JACKSON - Oak Hill tried to throw a zone defense at Pillow Academy, but senior guard Katie Buford made the Lady Raiders pay for that strategy.
Buford hit 6-of-12 from 3-point range as she scored a season-high 20 points to help the Lady Mustangs to a 52-35 victory here Tuesday in the opening round of the State AAA
Tournament at Hillcrest Christian School.
Even after watching Buford torch the nets from courtside, Pillow coach Durwin Carpenter was shocked at just how accurate she had been.
"Fifty percent, wow. I would say that was an outstanding shooting performance," Carpenter said. "They tried a little zone there in the first half, but Katie hit a few shots to take them out of it."
"I had a lot of confidence coming in after the last game. I knew when that first shot went in that is was going to be a good game for me," Buford said.
Pillow (35-1), ranked No. 1 in the statewide academy AAA poll, will play rival Jackson Academy at 2:15 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. Tuesday's win assures the Lady Mustangs of their 10th trip to the MPSA Overall Tournament in Carpenter's 11-year tenure at the school.
Oak Hill finishes the season at 26-9.
"Anytime you're playing a do-or-die game, you are just happy to get the win," Carpenter said. "We got off to a good start, but Oak Hill settled down and made a game of it in the first half.
"I thought our girls did a good job of taking care of their business. Now we will get ready for Friday."
As she did in last Saturday's Class AAA Division I championship win over Jackson Prep, Buford hit her first two attempts from long range and scored the bulk of her team's first-period points. She was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter.
Thanks to two treys by Buford and two baskets by senior center Meagan Webb, PA led 10-1 midway through the first period, but Oak Hill pulled within five with a run late in the quarter. Sophomore guard Lauren Coleman, however, handed the momentum back to the Lady Mustangs when she drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer - giving her team a 19-11 lead heading into the second period.
The Lady Mustangs led by as many as 15 in the second before taking a 32-19 advantage into the half.
Pillow's biggest lead in the third was 16, 41-25, after Betsy Nelson passed the ball inside to Mary Elizabeth Harper, who hit a turn-around shot in the lane.
Late in the fourth, Buford hit her sixth and final 3-pointer to give PA its biggest lead of the game at 21, 51-30.
Webb finished with 11 points, while Coleman and senior point guard Clansey Flautt added six and five, respectively. Flautt had seven assists and three steals.
Buford had five rebounds and two assists.
Beth Luke led Oak Hill with 11 points.
No. 5 JA (22-10) earned a spot in Friday's semifinals with a 44-30 win over Magnolia Heights Tuesday.
Pillow's lone loss this season came to JA, but JA is 1-3 against the Lady Mustangs this year.
