By Austin Bishop
If anyone wondered if the Lady Bulldogs of McAdams High School could compete with the biggest basketball teams in the state, they go their answer last week during the MHSAA Grand Slam Tournament.
McAdams, the MHSAA Class 1A State Champions, knocked off Newton High School 83-72 in the first-round of the Grand Slam on Thursday and then came back 24 hours later and took Class 6A State Champion Horn Lake to overtime before falling 61-59.
McAdams held a 48-38 lead with 4:14 left in the game, but was held scoreless through the rest of regulation play as Horn Lake went on a 10-0 run and forced overtime.
"Just off this game, going into overtime going into the No. 1 team in the state according to MaxPreps, shows a lot," said McAdams head coach Marvin McGee.
The Lady Bulldogs, who won the MHSAA Class 1A title last week, finished the season with an impressive 29-3 record.
The Lady Bulldogs led by two points on three occasions in overtime, but couldn't hold on for the win.
"We didn't play today and it showed," McGee said. "You win some and you lose some. They (Horn Lake) were a good team. They were the better team that day."
Kierra Gilmore scored 27 points and had nine rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs, while Dierra Gilmore scored 12 and had seven assists.
The win over Newton, the MHSAA Class 2A champion, was the 29th of the season for the Lady Bulldogs, who finished the year at 28-3.
Despite being plagued with foul trouble throughout the game against, the Lady Bulldogs just kept taking it right to the Lady Tigers.
Marquita Phillips picked up her fourth foul with 5:09 left in the third quarter, having being held scoreless and having only three rebounds at that point.
The fourth foul seemed to energize Phillips, as she scored all eight of her points in the last five minutes of the quarter and also picked up six rebounds and blocked a shot during that span.
"The way I told coach was that either I foul out or I step up, so I stepped up," Phillips said.
Dierra Gilmore led McAdams with 32 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, while also claiming seven rebounds and coming up with seven steals. Kierra Gilmore scored 25 points and had six assists, while Precious Ellington had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Marquita Phillips had 12 rebounds to go with her eight points. Kanesha Phillips also scored eight points for the Lady Bulldogs.
