That was a bad a first half as I have seen a DePaul Prep/Gordon Tech girls varsity team play. Turnovers, traveling, fouls, missed shots, no rebounds, you name it. Somehow, by the grace of the Almighty, they were only down 24-17.
Whatever the DePaul Prep Rams coach Sarah Zarymbski said to her team at halftime, she should write down and sell it.
It worked. The Rams were a whole new team in second half. The energy was 100% better. The started playing defense. They got most of the rebounds offensive and defensive. They starting shooting. The shots started falling. They all but erased the deficit in the third quarter. Down 31-30 entering the final frame.
The fourth quarter was back and forth. Trinity is good. No quit in the Blazers.
The Rams had the ball after a time out with 42.9 to play and the score tied. Moving the ball around looking for a shot with the clock running down, junior guard Maliah Wood got the ball. Square to the basket lining up the three-pointer, she finished the half the way she started it—a three-pointer that was never in doubt. Nothing but net.
Eight seconds on clock. Curiously, down 50-47, the Blazers moved the ball into the paint for a two point bucket. Even so the shot did not fall. Rams come back from a terrible first half to win 50-47.