Bartlett Girls take Sugar Bowl title

The Bartlett Girls won the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic in New Orleans on Saturday evening, Jan. 7, closing out four victories in the tournament with a 66-63 win over Lafayette Christian Academy.

The Lady Panthers defeated Kenwood High from Chicago earlier on Saturday, 61-51, to get to the title game in the national invitational tournament.

The Lady Panthers won their first two Sugar Bowl contests by wider margins, first defeating John Curtis Christian out of River Ridge, Louisiana, by a score of 69-52 on Thursday, Jan. 5. On Friday, Bartlett handled Warren Easton from New Orleans, 78-54.

The Knights of Lafayette Christian gave Bartlett all it could handle Saturday evening, battling in a game that was close to the very end.

A big reason was Jada Richard, who scored 35 points for the Knights and was named the tournament’s MVP even though she was not on the winning team.

In the fourth quarter, Bartlett was down by two points when Carrington Jones stole the ball and raced down court for a score and was fouled. She completed the traditional 3-point play and put Bartlett ahead, 60-59.

Richard was fouled on the next possession by Jones, who fouled out of the game with 1:19 remaining. Jones finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and the big steal late.

Richard missed one of the two free throws and the score was tied at 60.

On Bartlett’s next possession, senior guard Nevaeh Scott drove to the basket and scored, putting the Lady Panthers up 62-60. Scott led the Panthers in scoring with 20 points, but also pulled down 8 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and had 3 steals.

After Scott’s driving score, Knights point guard Lexie Taylor got fouled and made one of two free throws, pulling Lafayette Christian within one, 62-61.

The Knights then stole the ball, but Richard was unable to convert on a drive to the basket and Scott got the rebound and was fouled.

Scott made both clutch free throws to give Bartlett a 3-point lead, 64-61.

Richard was fouled on the next possession and made both free throws, making it a one-point game, 64-63, Bartlett with just 13 seconds left.

Bartlett kept the ball in Scott’s hands on its next possession and she was fouled again, and again made the two pressure-packed free throws, giving Bartlett a 3-point lead.

Richard missed a 3-point attempt in the final seconds and Bartlett prevailed, 66-63, to win the Sugar Bowl tournament.

Senior center Mallory Collier had 13 points for the Lady Panthers, 5 rebounds and a block. Junior Shamari Hamlett added 11 points for Bartlett and both sophomore Zoey Rixter and freshman Faye Williams had 7 rebounds.

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