A strong second quarter had Northside in good shape to win Friday’s Taco Bell Tournament of Champions semifinal.

Classen SAS, though, had other ideas.

The Oklahoma City-area school used some big 3-point shots to go in front in the third quarter. The Lady Comets then held off a late Northside rally to edge the Lady Bears, 56-51, at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.

Classen SAS, which was ranked No. 2 in the latest Oklahoma 4A poll, advances to Saturday night’s championship game at 6 p.m. against Kansas school Bishop Miege, which beat Greenwood in Friday’s other semifinal.

The Lady Bears (5-2) drop into the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against Greenwood.

Northside used a big second quarter to hold a seven-point lead at halftime in Friday’s game. But the Lady Comets responded in the second half.

Behind three 3-point baskets from Alyson Kennedy, the Lady Comets surged ahead, 35-30. Classen SAS then went up by seven points on several occasions in the fourth, the latter 52-45 when Jordan Harrison hit a 3 with less than three minutes left.

Northside crept back in it when Jersey Wolfenbarger converted a three-point play. Then with 1:21 left, a 3 from Jazz Coleman cut the Lady Comet lead to two, 53-51.

The Lady Bears then had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead but were unable to convert. On the other end, Harrison went in for a layup to put Classen SAS up by four, 55-51, with 33 seconds left.

Harrison led the Lady Comets with 15 points. Kennedy added 13 points and hit four 3's, and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 10 points as well.

For Northside, Tracey Bershers led the way with 18 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Coleman had 16 points and made two 3's.

Classen SAS led at the end of the first quarter, 8-7. But Northside started the second quarter on a 12-3 run.

Tracey Bershers capped that run by receiving a pass from teammate Eriel West and proceeded to drain a 3-pointer from the corner, which gave the Lady Bears a 19-11 advantage.

Northside went up by as many as nine points before eventually taking a seven-point lead at the break, 22-15.
