Taylor Murray of Annapolis Area Christian School made it look easy in the second half Friday night against Notre Dame Prep. The University of Kentucky-bound senior point guard scored 23 of her 28 points in the Eagles’ 49-41 win over the Blazers in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference game.
Murray’s passing, rebounding and defense were excellent, too, as was her ability to move without the ball.
“We played against her two years ago and we were up like 25 points at halftime,” Notre Dame Prep coach Katie Marks said. “We won by like three points because she had 30 in the second half. We knew it was possible she would do this.”
Senior shooting guard Marissa Varnado led the Blazers (6-6 overall, 5-3 league) with 20 points and 6-foot junior forward Marissa DeLuca totaled nine points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Varnado helped NDP take its first lead of the game, 32-31, at the end of the third quarter when she scored five consecutive points, including sinking a three-pointer.
AACS (14-1, 9-0) opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to go ahead 36-32.
But the Blazers responded to that spurt with another 5-0 run to give them a 37-36 lead with 5:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
That would be NDP's last lead of the game.
The 5-foot-6 Murray, who averages 29 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists per game, made sure of that.
She scored six consecutive points in the middle of the final quarter to boost her team’s lead to 44-37.
“I am blessed that she was able to step it up in the fourth quarter,” AACS coach Victor Watson said. “The last three games we have been down (in the second half) and we have been able to come back.
"I am hoping we get out of this because we didn’t play like this in our first 13 game," he added.
NDP struggled with its shooting, making only 16 of 57 shots (28 percent).
“We just beat ourselves,” Varnado said. “We have a lot of things to work on.”
Annapolis Area Christian School 49 Notre Dame Prep 41
NDP: Varnado 20, DeLuca 9, Regan 6, Holechek 2, Meyer 2, Price Suter 2.
AACS: Murray 28, Molden 6, Vandenheuvel 6, Hursh 5, Wiley 2, Peck 2.
Half: 18-17 AACS