Lew Wallace, Roosevelt advance

Updated: March 23, 2011 1:56PM

Lew Wallace coach Kimberly Jackson had a huge smile cemented on her face following the Hornets' 42-39 Class 3A sectional semifinal victory over Gavit (12-9).

But underneath that joy was a self-described near coronary.

"I know I almost had a heart attack with this one," Jackson joked. "This is such a big win for us. We are in the process of rebuilding with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores."

While the Hornets (5-13) needed to battle all 32 minutes of their fifth and most important victory of the season, Roosevelt (16-6) needed just a few minutes to explode against Clark (2-18) and score all the points it needed in the first quarter, advancing with a 47-16.

Takita Lenoir finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.

Even with a roster loaded with underclassmen, it was two seniors - Shaunice Emory and Tyler Davis - that carried the workload for Wallace. Emory drilled two 3-pointers in the first quarter to help spur the Hornets to an early lead. But it was an impressive fourth quarter performance by Davis that did in the Gladiators.

Emory finished with seven points, five rebounds and three steals, while Davis had a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds and six steals.

"Definitely the biggest game of (my high school career)," Emory said.

The Hornets swarmed all over lazy passes by the Gladiators, as they finished with 17 steals, which made up for being outrebounded 44-27. A big chunk of those boards came from Hattie Andrews, who posted game-highs of 22 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks.

"(Andrews) was going to get her points, we just didn't want anyone else to beat us and if she outscored our team then they deserved to win," Jackson said.

Tiaunna Scott Alexa Dennie also chipped in for the Hornets. Scott reached double figures with 11 points and five steals, while Dennie added six points and three rebounds.

In the Panthers' victory, they got a solid performance from Kelly Moten, who had 10 points, six steals and five rebounds. Ashley Arambula finished with 10 rebounds for Clark.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.