Central finally gets back to regionals

Raqurra Ishmar took over an offensively shaky outing by Central to help the Lady Bears overcome Ocala-Forest Friday night, 53-43, in the opening semifinal matchup of the Class 5A, District 7 Tournament, hosted by Ocala-West Port.

With the win, Central clinched its first regional berth since 2003 and only the second one in program history.

After a first half that went Forest's way, 22-19, and involved dominance in the paint by the Lady Wildcats, along with dismal shooting by Central, Ishmar and crew came alive defensively and outscored Forest 23-10 in a decisive third quarter.

Ishmar put back an offensive board for a score, then took a steal the length of the floor for a layup to briefly draw Central to within one point early in the third, 24-23.

After Forest responded to go back up by five, the Lady Bears steamrolled through a 12-0 run to seize control and never looked back.

This happened in spite of icy shooting through much of the game other than during the decisive run.

"In the first half we were 6-for-47 from the floor, which I didn't think was possible," said Central Head Coach Penny Gressick. "I didn't think we shot particularly well, but a win is a win."

Central was down 12-6 after the first, and Sharrelle Barkley scored eight of her 13 points in the first half to pace Forest, whose lone field goal outside the paint in the half was a deep three by point guard Ashton Roberts (11 points, six rebounds).

After going down 19-8 early in the second quarter, Central closed out the half on an 11-3 spurt to draw within three, getting five points each by Ishmar and McKenzie Burns in the period.

In the third, an Ishmar steal and score was followed by back-to-back scores from Tikiera Relaford (eight points, 10 rebounds) to claim the Lady Bears' first lead since 1-0, 28-27 with five minutes left in the third.

Central would open up a lead as big as 13 late in the fourth, as the tempo for the final quarter slowed down and the Lady Bears used the clock to hold on.

Central's full-court press and Forest's at-times panicky ball handling combined to benefit the Lady Bears in the form of 40 Forest turnovers, offsetting the lackluster shooting performance by Central.

Burns (13 points) and Keeria McKenzie (10 points, eight rebounds) chipped in with significant efforts for the Lady Bears.

Central moves on to the district final Saturday at 7 p.m., against tournament host West Port.

In her sixth year at the helm, Gressick will reach the regional playoffs for the first time in her tenure, regardless of Saturday's district championship game.

"That feels real good, because that was one of our goals at the beginning of the year", said Gressick of the playoff advancement.

CENTRAL 53, FOREST 43
Quarter Scoring 1 2 3 4
FOR 12 10 10 11 - 43
CEN 6 13 23 11 - 53
FOREST (43): Barkley 6 1-4 13, Roberts 3 4-4 11, Anderson 4 0-0 8, Wooden 3 2-6 8, K. Townsend 1 0-0 2, Brown 0 1-4 1. Totals 17 8-18 43.
CENTRAL (53): Ishmar 6 4-8 16, Burns 5 2-6 13, McKenzie 3 4-6 10, Relaford 4 0-2 8, Brooks 2 0-0 5, Lynch 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 11-24 53.
Three-point field goals : CEN 2 (Burns, Brooks); FOR 1 (Roberts)
Total fouls : CEN 16; FOR 19
Technical Fouls : none
Fouled out : none
Records : Central (18-4), Forest (9-15).