Bailey Burgess, a sophomore guard from The King’s Academy, scored a game-high 21 points in a 61-54 loss to Trinity Christian on Saturday in the Division II-A state championship game at Lipscomb. (Photo: Kindell Buchanan)
By JESSE SMITHEY
NASHVILLE — A championship was within its grasp Saturday afternoon, but The King’s Academy girls’ basketball team will enter the 2020-21 season heavily motivated to correct what happened late in the Division II-A state title game Saturday.
The Lady Lions led 54-51 with 1 minute, 44 seconds to play against one-loss Trinity Christian.
But Trinity walked away with the gold championship trophy, 61-54, thanks to a 10-0 run down the stretch.
The King’s Academy (25-7) turned the ball over three times and missed their final two shots in that span, as Trinity (32-1) salted it away at the foul line.
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A hard pill to swallow for TKA, which was making its first state tournament appearance in program history; however, the Lady Lions graduate just two players and return Division I prospect Jennifer Sullivan.
Sullivan scored 16 points Saturday. Fellow sophomore Bailey Burgess, who had TKA’s last made field goal with 4:49 to go, pumped in 21 points. She and Sullivan both made the all-tournament team, along with senior Taylor Carter (10 points).
Carter and forward Sydney Bane are the team’s lone seniors.
“They’re warriors. They’re fighters,” said TKA coach Blake Derrick of his team. “Hopefully this feeling fuels all of us to come back.”
TKA finished with 20 turnovers and struggled from the onset against Trinity’s defensive pressure, especially in the full court and three-quarter court. The Lady Lions ultimately turned the ball over 13 times in the first half.
“We knew what they were going to do (defensively). It was their length,” said Derrick. “I have some smaller guards. Their length killed us. Being able to tip passes and creating chaos. We couldn’t meet the passes. We couldn’t do certain things.
“But … I thought we had it.”
But the Lady Lions’ 3-point prowess helped them overcome their ball-possession woes.
In the first two quarters, they popped in seven of 10 from 3, including four treys during a 16-0 run to close the first half.
5STAR PHOTOS: The King’s Academy vs. Trinity Christian (Division II-A Championship)
Burgess hit two consecutive 3s to spur the surge. Sullivan and Carter got in on the act, too, and the Lady Lions’ 24-17 deficit with 5 minutes, 23 seconds left in the second quarter flipped into a 33-24 lead at the break.
Sullivan reached intermission with 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting. Burgess had nine — all on 3s. Carter added eight.
Carter added a mid-range jumper at the 2:50 mark in the third quarter to push TKA’s lead to 46-36.
But the Lady Lions missed their final four shots of the quarter, and Trinity sliced into the 10-point lead to make it 46-41 after three.
TKA wound up making just 1 of 10 from the 3 in the second half and was 1-for-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
“We have to keep the momentum in the second half,” said Burgess. “Our third quarter was pretty good. But our fourth quarter, we made some mistakes. And we got to get them back in the future.”