The breakdown: Riverdale girls cruise past Smyrna into 7-AAA finals
Smyrna’s girls had no answer for Riverdale All-American Anastasia Hayes.
The University of Tennessee signee scored 26 points to lead the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Lady Warriors past Smyrna 81-46 in the semifinals of the District 7-AAA tournament Saturday. The win places the Lady Warriors in the championship match Monday at 7:30.
Here is a breakdown of the game:
Riverdale girls 81, Smyrna 46
Records: Riverdale 26-0, Smyrna 18-10
The skinny: Anastasia Hayes took it to the basket at will. She drove to the basket with Smyrna’s taller players guarding her and scored with spin moves and quickness. She also knocked down a 3-pointer. And when she wasn’t scoring, she was busy dishing off passes to her teammates.
Turning point: Smyrna led 9-6 in the first quarter when the nation's top-ranked team (USA Today, MaxPreps) went on a 13-4 run to close out the quarter. Riverdale then outscored Smyrna 18-2 to start the second quarter to take a commanding 37-15 lead, outscoring Smyrna 31-6 during that stretch. Anastasia Hayes scored 14 of her team’s points during that stretch.
Leading scorers: Riverdale: Anastasia Hayes 26, Aislynn Hayes 12. Smyrna: Tyra Hughes 14.
Quotable: "She (Hayes) got to the rim a lot on us. We tried to play off of her a little bit, but she was still getting to the rim.” – Smyrna coach Bud Brandon
“She played really well. I thought all our kids did. I thought we were a little slow out of the gate, but once we got the nerves out, we really shared the ball.” – Riverdale coach Randy Coffman.
