MONTGOMERY — Akron’s plan going into its Class 1A Central Region semifinal against Edward Bell didn’t necessarily involve freshman Valencia McCain and sophomore Kadijah Small taking over.
It just kind of happened that way in the Rams’ 61-46 win over the Bears on Monday.
McCain (20 points and 16 rebounds) and Small (19 and 12) combined for almost as many points (39 to 46) and rebounds (28 to 32) as Edward Bell (15-10) could muster as a team.
“They’re big girls, but they’re quicker than most big girls,” Akron coach David West said of the 5-foot-8 McCain and the 5-11 Small. “They can run a guard, they can run wing for us and they can score it. It’s served us pretty well to have some versatile athletes like this.”
Akron (19-6) took a 12-point lead into halftime and kept it at double digits for the majority of the second half.
But the Bears’ Jamelia Wilkerson, who kept aggressively contesting shots despite four fouls, helped spur a 9-0 Edward Bell run in 2:14 with 4 points and three blocks.
“(Small and McCain) were doing what we asked them to do, but no calls were being made,” West said of the Rams’ strategy to try and foul out Wilkerson. “I told them, ‘You won’t get everything that you want, but you have to pull through and stay focused.’”
The two pulled through in a big way, scoring 11 of the Rams’ final 13 points as they pulled away with a 13-2 spurt in the final 3 minutes.
Jasmine Robinson also added 15 points and six rebounds for the Rams, who move on to face No. 5 Sunshine (21-1) in the region finals Thursday at 3 p.m.
Desharte Edwards led the Bears with 21 points, and Kierra Billingsley added 15.
dmorrison@oanow.com | 737-2568
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