Up in the air Brundrett Middle School player Madison Ray reaches for a loose ball during an eighth grade game against Woodsboro. STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Plagued by illness and lack of substitutions, both Brundrett Middle

School Lady Marlin teams nevertheless came out of the BMS tournament on Saturday, Jan. 15, with secondplace trophies.

The eighth-grade girls squeezed past West Oso, 27-25, in the first round game, outscoring the Lady Bears to begin and keeping up the pace for the remainder of the game.

With the score tied at 25-25 and only 2.8 seconds on the clock, the Lady Marlins called time out.

“(We) explained what they needed to do,” coach Stephanie Cowen explained. “As West Oso inbounded the ball, the girls executed perfectly, and Madison Ray scored the winning basket with no time remaining on the clock. I was very impressed that a group that young executed like they did.“

“It was the first time those eighth grade girls had the opportunity to play a game in the high school gym, and they did a great job,” Cowen commented.

Ray topped the scoring with 16 points and was the Lady Marlins’ only doubledigit shooter. Emily Roberson put in five points, Carlie Munoz hit four and Rachael Henderson hit two.

Facing Incarnate Word Academy in the second round of the tourney, the Lady Marlins went down, 23-43.

“Our legs and probably the emotion from the win that morning got us, and they opened it up in the second half,” Cowen added.

Ray again headed the scoring column, this time with 12 points. Roberson put in five, Paige Bridges hit four and Munoz scored two.

The seventh-grade girls were a bit better off: They had two substitutes instead of one. In their first round, they also met West Oso, and romped to a 29-9 victory.

“They were looking to make passes that they were not looking for earlier in the season,” Coach Javier Mendoza noted. “The girls were taking shots with confidence instead of looking to pass to someone for a shot. Defensively, they were covering on fast breaks better by stopping the ball and picking up the other offensive girls running down the court.”

Scoring was spread well, with Melanie McCann leading with eight points and Tanai Murray and Ashten Snyder following with seven apiece. Ashley Mack hit four and Julie Johnson put in three to round out the scoring.

The seventh-grade girls also met IWA in the second round, and also did not fare so well, losing 10-28.

Mendoza noted that by the second game, the lack of depth on the bench was beginning to tell. The Lady Marlins had only one substitute available for the tournament, and three of the girls had been out sick during the previous week, Mendoza said.

“Not having the players to put in to give breathers played a big part in the second games,” he said.

“We had a pretty good first half, but in the second half our legs started to give out,” Mendoza commented.

“They gave a great effort and I am pleased with the results,” he said. “The girls are learning, and being able to play as many games as possible is great. When the tournament ended, the girls were exhausted.”

McCann hit four points to lead the scoring; Mack, Murray and Snyder each put in two.

IWA won both the eighth- and seventhgrade sections of the tournament, with the Lady Marlins coming in second.