The South Cougars and the undefeated Southwest Bulldogs freshmen girls basketball teams battled for the Brandy Martin Memorial Tournament championship last Thursday night.

But poor shooting and a number of Cougar turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to jump out to a 17-3 first quarter lead, and eventually held off a late South comeback to win, 51-37.

Southwest post player Ashli Hill towered over the South defense, and the Bulldogs made an effort to get her the ball early and often.

“Unless I get double-teamed, that’s pretty much how it goes,” Hill said.

Southwest coach Michelle Karleskint said Hill’s presence in the paint enabled her team to create and attack other areas on the floor.

“She’s always an advantage down low,” she said. “We try to get her involved, but we have other guards that can do a lot with it outside. So if we get it in, that’s gonna make the defense collapse and create a lot for our guards.”

While Hill dominated the opening quarter, she spent much of the second quarter on the bench.

Saddled with two fouls and recovering from a foot injury, Hill watched as the Bulldogs’ offense struggled. And soon the Cougars’ defense began to out-hustle and outplay the Bulldogs.

South used a strong man-to-man press to disrupt the Bulldogs’ offense and create turnovers. Haley Parker scored five straight points, including four free throws for the Cougars to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 23-9 midway through the second quarter. And for the rest of the game, the Cougars’ defensive pressure was problematic for the Bulldogs.

“When we made Southwest work they had a much harder time getting easy shots,” South coach Jay Deiser said. “That kept us in the game.”

South had momentum and ample opportunities to cut the Southwest lead to 10 points, but the shots would not fall. While South’s defensive pressure created many open looks for the Cougars from both inside and out, the lid on the basket remained closed. And with Hill resting on the bench, Southwest squandered away a golden opportunity and trailed, 26-9, at the half.

On the opening possession in the third quarter, the Bulldogs immediately went to Hill inside. But South opened the half with a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 27-15 with less than seven minutes to play in the third quarter.

But the Bulldogs defense matched the Cougars’ defensive intensity, and for much of the second half, Southwest’s defensive pressure enabled them to get into transition.

“Our defense creates a lot of our offense,” Karleskint said. “As long as we’re getting touches on the ball, that’s pretty much our game plan.”

The Bulldogs executed their passing ability well as Cassie Potter made a nice finger roll and a layup off an assist from Hill. On the next trip down the floor, Potter returned the favor by feeding Hill on the break that led to two Hill free throws, pushing the Bulldogs’ lead to 31-17.

A 3-pointer by Potter made the score 34-17 Bulldogs, and the Cougars were forced to regroup. That’s when Haley Parker went to work.

Trailing by 17 to start fourth quarter, Parker dribbled around and right through the heart of the Bulldogs’ defense. Her dribble drive and layup with less than three minutes to play capped off a 12-6 South run to cut the Southwest lead to 46-35.

But that 11-point deficit was as close as the Cougars would get. Hill dominated the glass the rest of the way, and the Bulldogs closed out the game on a 5-2 run to win the tournament.

“It feels great,” Hill said.

Across the floor, coach Deiser was impressed not only with Hill’s performance, but the entire Bulldogs team that withstood South’s comeback.

“They’re the real deal,” Deiser said. “They’re not undefeated for nothing. We thought the whole way we could pull it out, but we never got hot. We could never cut it to single digits. We just couldn’t quite over the hump.”

Despite the loss, Deiser said he could not be prouder of his team.

“They’re great,” he said. “They’re a hyper, energetic group. They’re quite a bunch, a very, very talented basketball team. I think most years this team would be able to win this tournament, but unfortunately Southwest has a great team, too.”

Karleskint was worried her Bulldogs team might be tired entering the game, but her team’s play in the first quarter ended any doubt.

“They did great,” she said. “They’ve done a really good job this whole tournament not letting fatigue or three games in a week affect them.”

The freshmen girls will see the competition increase to another level next season when they play high school basketball.

And Deiser said watching two very talented teams battle for a tournament championship is just an omen of things to come.

“The good think about it is that it bodes very well for Lawrence High and Fee State High,” Deiser said. “It’s a great freshmen class all the way around for the city of Lawrence. Things look great.”