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NORMANDY Parkway South was able to deal with Lafayettes smothering pressure defense in an upset of the Lancers in a Class 5 district final Friday.

The Patriots, however,didnt have the same luck against Incarnate Word in Wednesdays Class 5 girls basketball sectional at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The Red Knights turned the Parkway South offense inside out as they came up with 23 steals on their way to a63-28 victory.

We knew where they double (team), and we had a plan to attack it, Parkway South coach Thomas Williams said. Its tough when they keep coming at you for 32 minutes, not so much physically, but mentally it wears on you. We had some unforced mistakes, but youve got to give them credit, too.

The Red Knights, 24-6 and No. 1 in the STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings, advance to Saturdays state quarterfinals. Incarnate will playSt. Josephs, the area's No. 2 team, at 6 p.m. Saturday. St. Joe's advanced by beatingJackson 54-21 in its sectional game.

Anytime youre in a playoff game and you win youre happy thats for sure, Incarnate coach Dan Rolfes said.

The game was tight for the first five minutes. In fact, Parkway South (15-14) had a 9-7 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter. But when Parkway South standout center Becca Steins picked up her third foul late in the first quarter the game changed in a hurry. The Red Knights, helped by a flurry of steals, went on an 8-0 run.

Steins came right back in, but once IWA was rolling Parkway South couldn't find a way to slow the Red Knights.

Theyre obviously a different team with her, Rolfes said of Steins. She does a lot for them. She helps break the press, shes a good passer, she can step away from the basket. So, yeah, losing her really hurt them. To be honest with you, I didnt think we took advantage of it enough.

After falling behind by14 points, the Patriots scrambled back to within 10near the end of the first half thanks tofour quick points by Steins, who finished with a game-high 10.Nakiah Bell , however, nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give IWA a 30-17 haltime lead.

Thats kind of a momentum shift right there, Thomas said.

The rest is here:
Incarnate Word's defense puts the squeeze on Parkway South