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CLARKSVILLE — Providence Christian junior Alex Anderson was tasked with a big chore during the TSSAA girls basketball state championship game on March 7.
Defending arguably the best player in the state and one of the nation's top-ranked juniors in University School of Jackson's Haylen Ayers.
Anderson accomplished the task, helping the Lady Lions capture the program's second Division II-AA state title (2019), defeating USJ, 60-49, at F&M Bank Arena.
"Really, that was unanimous with coaches," said PCA coach Tara James, on the decision to put the 5-foot-11 Anderson on the two-time Miss Basketball winner and favorite to win a third. "She has been stepping up big all year (defensively) on some of the best players and doing a great job, doing the dirty work, playing defense hard and and getting rebounds."
Ayers, who scored 31 points in the state semifinals, led all scorers with 24 points. But it came on 8-of-21 shooting. She was held to eight points in the first half as the Lady Lions (27-5) built a 15-point lead at intermission and never looked back.
"(Anderson) worked me the whole game," said the 6-foot Ayers, who had a tall task herself, guarding PCA senior center and fellow Miss Basketball finalist Kayte Madison Bjornstad. "It's really hard having to go guard the other team's dominant player and fighting your tail off the entire game, then also having to go produce on the offensive end, especially when a player like that is just getting after you.
"Hats off to her for stepping up to her challenge and doing her job."
Anderson, who also scored 13 points in the win, didn't technically find out she would be on Ayers until the morning of the title game. But she had her suspicions.
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I expected coming into this game that they were going to put me on her, just because of our size," Anderson said. "I was watching film all this morning and trying to figure out what she's doing and was asking everyone who knows. And I just kind of used it to drive me even more. That fueled me for the game so much."
Anderson made defense a priority this season.
"This year, I didn't really know what my role was going into it," Anderson said. "I was in my head about a bunch of stuff. But there was one thing I knew I could control, and that was my defense and rebounding. And so I really just took ownership this year and decided that's going to be the main things I was going to focus on. (James) started putting me on people she thought I could guard."
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PCA, which reached the state final four last season and was state runner-up in 2021, built the lead to as much as 22 points in the third quarter before USJ (25-6) rallied, cutting it to eight midway through the fourth.
Bjornstad just missed a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Tournament MVP Eva Birkofer added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
"Going into it, the only tall player they really have is (Ayers)," Bjornstad said. "The paint game was my game. I'm not really an outside shooter. I can, but the inside is my game. Going into it, I was like, we have to start attacking or else this could go south really quickly. I'm going to go in there and kind of be a dog.
"I'm also kind of glad they put (Ayers) on me, because I felt going into it we could get her in foul trouble and make her energy go down. And I'm used to that, because I've gotten beat up all year."
Gabby Debord added nine points and four rebounds for PCA.
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: PCA girls basketball captures TSSAA DII-A state championship
Continue reading...
Defending arguably the best player in the state and one of the nation's top-ranked juniors in University School of Jackson's Haylen Ayers.
Anderson accomplished the task, helping the Lady Lions capture the program's second Division II-AA state title (2019), defeating USJ, 60-49, at F&M Bank Arena.
"Really, that was unanimous with coaches," said PCA coach Tara James, on the decision to put the 5-foot-11 Anderson on the two-time Miss Basketball winner and favorite to win a third. "She has been stepping up big all year (defensively) on some of the best players and doing a great job, doing the dirty work, playing defense hard and and getting rebounds."
Ayers, who scored 31 points in the state semifinals, led all scorers with 24 points. But it came on 8-of-21 shooting. She was held to eight points in the first half as the Lady Lions (27-5) built a 15-point lead at intermission and never looked back.
"(Anderson) worked me the whole game," said the 6-foot Ayers, who had a tall task herself, guarding PCA senior center and fellow Miss Basketball finalist Kayte Madison Bjornstad. "It's really hard having to go guard the other team's dominant player and fighting your tail off the entire game, then also having to go produce on the offensive end, especially when a player like that is just getting after you.
"Hats off to her for stepping up to her challenge and doing her job."
Anderson, who also scored 13 points in the win, didn't technically find out she would be on Ayers until the morning of the title game. But she had her suspicions.
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FOOTBALL: Why Marty Euverard left farm in East Tennessee to take PCA football job
I expected coming into this game that they were going to put me on her, just because of our size," Anderson said. "I was watching film all this morning and trying to figure out what she's doing and was asking everyone who knows. And I just kind of used it to drive me even more. That fueled me for the game so much."
Anderson made defense a priority this season.
"This year, I didn't really know what my role was going into it," Anderson said. "I was in my head about a bunch of stuff. But there was one thing I knew I could control, and that was my defense and rebounding. And so I really just took ownership this year and decided that's going to be the main things I was going to focus on. (James) started putting me on people she thought I could guard."
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Kayte Madison Bjornstad, Eva Birkofer help PCA girls roll to state title
PCA, which reached the state final four last season and was state runner-up in 2021, built the lead to as much as 22 points in the third quarter before USJ (25-6) rallied, cutting it to eight midway through the fourth.
Bjornstad just missed a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Tournament MVP Eva Birkofer added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
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"Going into it, the only tall player they really have is (Ayers)," Bjornstad said. "The paint game was my game. I'm not really an outside shooter. I can, but the inside is my game. Going into it, I was like, we have to start attacking or else this could go south really quickly. I'm going to go in there and kind of be a dog.
"I'm also kind of glad they put (Ayers) on me, because I felt going into it we could get her in foul trouble and make her energy go down. And I'm used to that, because I've gotten beat up all year."
Gabby Debord added nine points and four rebounds for PCA.
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: PCA girls basketball captures TSSAA DII-A state championship
Continue reading...
