Glenwood girls basketball tops Lee-Scott, advances to state title game

Thanks to a standout effort on defense, the Glenwood Lady Gators are one step away from yet another state title.

Glenwood (23-6) took care of a familiar foe in the AISA Class 3A semifinals Saturday, beating Lee-Scott Academy 42-35. The win sends Glenwood to the state title game against Tuscaloosa Academy, where the Lady Gators will be playing for their fourth state championship in five years.

Morgan Grant led the Lady Gators with 20 points in the victory. Quan Holton posted 11 points, and JJ Woods finished with 7.

As important as the offense produced by Grant and Company was, it was the team’s defensive presence that powered the Lady Gators to victory. Glenwood held Lee-Scott in check quarter after quarter, consistently setting the pace of play that Lee-Scott failed to overcome.

That was never clearer than in the third quarter of Saturday’s showdown. The Glenwood offense slow down considerably at this point, only putting up five points through the eight minutes of play. At that same point, the team buckled down defensively, balancing it out by only allowing six Lee-Scott points.

“The defense was the difference in the game,” Glenwood head coach Julie Humphries said.

Monday’s state title game amounts to the third of a best-of-three between Glenwood and Tuscaloosa Academy. Tuscaloosa Academy claimed a 46-33 victory in the first meeting on Jan. 20, but Glenwood extracted revenge with a 50-27 win in the region championship game one week later.

The two teams hit the court at 6 p.m. EST Monday at the Montgomery Multiplex.

This story was originally published February 3, 2018 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Glenwood girls basketball tops Lee-Scott, advances to state title game."