Brewer came into Wednesday’s Northeast Regional Championship game with Scottsboro knowing that a win would get them back to Birmingham and the Final Four for the first time since 2014.
The Lady Patriots’ opponent was the Scottsboro Lady Wildcats, a team that had defeated the Lady Patriots less than two weeks ago in the Area Championship game played at Brewer.
The two teams have met three previous times this season with Scottsboro winning two of the three games.
Brewer’s Leisha Steger scored seven points to help lead the Lady Patriots to a 13-10 lead following the first quarter. A big factor in the quarter was Brewer’s defense which led to them scoring five points off Lady Wildcat turnovers.
Scottsboro bounced back in the second quarter by dominating the game in the paint, outscoring Brewer 8-0. Scottsboro used their advantage to take a halftime lead of 25-23.
The Lady Patriots came out of the locker room and imposed their will on Scottsboro early in the third quarter as they outscored the Lady Wildcats 13-2 in the first five minutes to take a 36-27 lead. The Lady Wildcats cut into the Brewer lead with a 5-0 run to close the quarter making the score 36-32 Brewer heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter began with Brewer outscoring Scottsboro 14-7 over the first four minutes to extend their lead to 50-39, their largest lead of the game. Scottsboro increased pressure over the final four minutes but was unable to get back in the game as they fell by a score of 56-47.
Brewer (23-9) was led by McCarley Northway who scored 16 points and had seven rebounds. 13 of her points came in the second half. Jacie Andrews scored 12 points with seven coming in the fourth quarter, while Leisha Steger added nine points.
“McCarley was a big factor in the game, especially in the second half,” said Brewer head coach Jeff Andrews. “Whether it was her scoring or setting up her teammates to score, her play impacted the game”
Scottsboro (23-10) was led by Keara Sexton who finished with a game-high 20 points while Emily Garner added 13 points and nine rebounds and Carley Bell had 10.
“This is a big win for our team and our school,” said Brewer head coach Jeff Andrews. “This is our first trip back to the Final Four since 2014 and it is something that these girls have been working towards their entire career.”
Brewer junior Leisha Steger said that getting to the state tournament means everything to her and that it is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of the great Lady Patriot teams that came before.
McCarley Northway, the Northeast Regional MVP, said “Seeing my sister play in the final four and win it all was big for me. It made me work hard every day to get there myself. This has been a dream of mine for such a long time, to lead my team to the Final Four.”
Brewer now returns to the Final Four looking for their first state title since winning it all in 2012. They will meet Central-Tuscaloosa, winners of the Southwest Regional, on Wednesday night at 6:00 pm.
