WINTHROP – One team may frustrate Emilie Knight into foul trouble. Another might short-circuit Katie Pushard’s fearless forays toward the basket.
There just aren’t many Mountain Valley Conference girls’ basketball teams who have a prayer of shutting down both Winthrop High School co-captains on the same evening.
Junior playmaker Pushard exploded for 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists Thursday, while senior pivot Knight produced her typical 23 points and 18 boards in traditionally tough Winthrop’s entertaining 68-61 triumph over vastly improved Madison.
“It’s pretty good when it’s all working,” said first-year Winthrop coach Sam Farrell, whose Ramblers improved to 5-1 with a telling trio of tussles against Jay, Mountain Valley and Hall-Dale on the horizon in the second week of January.
Madison (4-2) fell behind by a dozen points before rallying late in the third quarter when Knight retreated to the bench with three fouls. The Bulldogs repeated that feat in the waning minutes of regulation after Knight acquired her fourth.
While the whistles might have handcuffed Knight’s defense, they couldn’t stop her from converting inside to snap a run of nine unanswered Madison points with 1:35 remaining. On the Ramblers’ next possession, Knight flagged down a feed from Pushard, shook off a defender and drained a 14-foot jumper, upping the lead to six.
Pushard, Brittany Gaudet and Justine Woodman punctuated the victory with eight consecutive free throws in the final minute. Winthrop nailed its last 12 freebies and 15 of 16 in the second half.
“You have to play good defense to stop them, and we did for the most part,” said Madison coach Al Veneziano, whose team harbors hopes of its first trip to the regional tournament at Augusta Civic Center since 2001. “You have to get a little physical with (Pushard and Knight). We have a lot of young kids, and we just lost focus for a few minutes in the second quarter.”
Actually, Madison kept a keen eye on Winthrop’s high-low tandem during that game-changing stretch. The Ramblers’ supporting cast did the damage, with Woodman and Brianna Tupper combining for seven points off the bench. Their handiwork wiped out the Bulldogs’ early 15-11 edge.
With Knight drawing a crowd in the paint, the six-footer dished to a driving Tupper along the baseline for the bucket that sent Winthrop to the locker room with a 29-23 advantage.
Pushard produced a crucial 3-point play during Knight’s brief respite in the third period. That was Winthrop’s lone hoop during a 12-3 Madison surge. Pushard put a lid on that run with a leaner off the glass, and Knight returned to stick a short jumper in traffic and two free throws to restore a seven-point cushion.
That lead crested at 56-44 on Pushard’s pull-up deuce with 3:48 left. Madison crept as close as 56-53 on Brittany Rich’s 3-pointer with two minutes to go.
Margo Russell scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter for Madison. Rich and Briann Emery added 12 apiece, and Lacey Ashbrook delivered 11. Those four, all sophomores, combined for six of Madison’s seven 3-pointers. Rich and Emery collaborated for 22 of their 24 points in the second half.
“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Madison,” Farrell said. “They play 32 hard minutes. To come out of this with a win is very big for us.”
Winthrop’s stars got better as the game progressed, also. Pushard and Knight were responsible for 31 of the Ramblers’ 39 points after the break.
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