The Lady Saints pose with the trophy after winning the CCAA tournament championship.
                                 Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange

The Lady Saints pose with the trophy after winning the CCAA tournament championship.

Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange

<p>SCA’s Sydney Bell goes up for a layup in transition Saturday against Antioch.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange</p>

SCA’s Sydney Bell goes up for a layup in transition Saturday against Antioch.

Neel Madhavan | Laurinburg Exchange

ROCKINGHAM — With just one senior and the majority of its key players being just freshmen or sophomores, the Scotland Christian Academy varsity girls’ basketball team has a bright future ahead of it.

On Saturday, despite losing both regular season meetings by a combined 12 points, the Lady Saints blew out Antioch Christian Academy 68-35 Saturday to win the Carolinas Christian Athletics Association tournament championship.

“We had the fire to beat them because we haven’t beaten them in a while — we just wanted it more,” said sophomore guard Sydney Bell.

“Like I told the ladies, I said it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish,” said head coach Terrell Hollingsworth. “I think our confidence level was higher than it was the first two games. As long as we pull together at the end, things are going to work out. Just trust the process.”

The Lady Saints (9-3, 4-2 CCAA) handily beat Temple Christian Academy 63-38 in the semifinal to get to the title game.

At first, SCA struggled against Antioch’s defensive pressure and size inside, but through a series of turnovers, the Lady Saints closed out the first quarter on a 13-0 scoring run to take a 19-9 lead. Freshman Lily Cartrette hit two three-pointers during the run.

Three-point shooting in the first half gave SCA the boost it needed to build its lead against the Lady Gators, as the Lady Saints finished with eight three-pointers during the game, including the two from Cartrette and three from sophomore Morgan McMillan.

A few of those threes came in transition, which Bell said pushing the ball up the floor ahead of the defense was a point of emphasis for them coming into the game.

The scoring tapered off in the second quarter, but McMillan hit two of her threes to help the Lady Saints maintain a 29-17 lead at halftime. Antioch struggled to score in its halfcourt offense, getting most of its second quarter points on fast break run outs off turnovers. SCA’s full court defensive press created 18 steals against the Lady Gators.

“We played a little bit better with our man defense,” Hollingsworth said. “We didn’t allow easy shots, limited them to one shot and rebounded the ball as best as we could.”

Another scoring run midway through the third quarter helped the Lady Saints build their lead up to 23 points by the end of the period and they held onto that lead until the final buzzer.

Emotions and frustrations got the better of the Lady Gators in the second half as the game got away from them, which led to several technical fouls.

McMillan led the way with 24 points. Bell also scored 14 points and had eight assists, while Cartrette had finished with 10.

“We had a lot more ball movement today,” Hollingsworth said. “They were looking to share the ball with each other. Everybody played together. It was all about teamwork.”

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2671 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.