Feb 16, 2018 By Stephen Flinn for The 4 min read

WHITEHALL — Ringgold started slow in the its WPIAL Class AAAAAA first-round playoff game against Gateway and never recovered.

The 10th-seeded Lady Rams picked up their effort in the second half, but the seventh-seeded Gators caught fire in the fourth quarter and Ringgold was eliminated from the playoffs with a 39-28 loss Friday night at Baldwin High School.

“I thought we’d make it a little further in the playoffs this year, so this was disappointing,” Ringgold head coach Erika McCarthy said. “I wasn’t happy with the seeding, but I thought we could compete with them. Our defense was good. We held (Gateway) to 39 points, but our offense really hurt us.”

Ringgold was bothered by Gateway center Lexi Jackson’s 6-3 height, as her rebounding and blocking shots on defense helped control the game. Her two buckets fueled the Lady Gators to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter before Nya Adams hit a 3-pointer for the Lady Rams and they trailed 11-5 after one.

“I would say our girls got scared of Jackson’s height. We didn’t attack like we should have,” McCarthy said. “When you play against a girl that tall you have to change your game up a little bit. I thought we could have handled her a little better.”

The Lady Rams came out tentative and had shots, but missed more than they made.

“We didn’t come out with our A-game. We weren’t hitting shots,” McCarthy said. “Against a center that large, we were settling for outside shots. We were successful all year by working the ball inside.”

Jackson picked up two fouls in the first minute of the second quarter and was forced to the bench. During that stretch, Ringgold held Gateway scoreless. Taylor Mendicino hit two free throws and a basket to pull the Rams within 13-9.

Jackson came back in with three minutes left, though, and immediately sank a running layup. Annie Garness added a putback and Gateway took a 17-9 lead at the break.

McCarthy told her team to be more aggressive at halftime and the Lady Rams played with more energy in the second half, but they still had problems hitting shots.

“We made some corrections (at halftime). When we got the ball inside, we needed to look at the basket. Look to push the ball and take it to them,” McCarthy said. “We did that a lot better in the second half, but we still didn’t convert and finish.”

Ashley Briscoe powered Ringgold to a 5-0 run early in the third quarter after a putback, a steal, and a 3-point play to cut the Lady Gators’ lead to 17-14. Gateway responded with a 6-0 run, though, to take a 23-14 lead. Taylor Costa hit two free throws and the Lady Rams trailed 23-16 after three.

Johnna Mayer hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to pull Ringgold back into the game, 25-22, but Gateway tore off a 6-0 run to fend off Ringgold. Jackson scored 10 of Gateway’s 16 points in the fourth quarter. She led all scorers with 18 points.

Adams was the Rams’ leading scorer with 9 points on three 3-pointers. Brisco added seven points.

“Nya (Adams) sets everything up. She’s a great ball-handler and a great player as a sophomore,” McCarthy said. “Ashley is our go-to inside player. She’s probably the most-athletic girl on the floor.”

Even though McCarthy was hoping the Lady Rams would have made a deeper run in the playoffs, she was happy with the team’s effort.

“We made a great run this season. This was the best record we’ve had in probably six years,” McCarthy said. “We had a great group of senior girls. We’ll really miss the next year moving forward. They’ve been the core of the team the last four years.”