A strong defensive performance in the second half and teamwide contributions sent Sterling past Stillman Valley and into Monday’s Dixon Christmas Classic championship game after a 51-37 win at Lancaster Gym.

The 10-1 Golden Warriors will face 12-0 Byron at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The Cardinals (12-2) will face Dixon (11-2) for third place at 5 p.m.

Nia Harris scored 10 of her 16 points during a 19-6 third quarter surge after Sterling trailed 21-17 at halftime. She also had nine rebounds.

While Dailene Wade was big inside with a game-high 22 points for Stillman Valley, Sterling did a good job of limiting the other Cardinals. Lillian Green (seven points) and Emma Withers (eight) were Stillman’s only other scorers.

“We knew they had shooters on the perimeter,” Harris said, “so we just guarded them and guarding [Wade] was our focus.”

Harris said coach Taylor Jackson getting her first career technical foul was also an energizing moment for the team in the second half. Jackson was given the tech after asking for a foul call to be explained.

“I think our main thing that fired us up was our coach getting her technical,” she said. “I think that fired us all up and we just wanted to win it for her.”

“When I got t’d up they said, ‘hey, you know, we’re not going to let this one go, and I think that was huge. Just a team effort today.”

Sterling also avenged last year’s loss to the Cardinals in the tournament’s semifinals.

“We wanted to come back and beat them,” Harris said, “just how they did to us.”

Sterling outscored SV 34-16 in the second half. Brenley Johnson had another big game off the bench with 12 points, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Joslynn Green had eight points and eight boards.

While leading scorer Jossy James was limited to six points, the rest of the team filled in.

“We’ve got good shooters,” Harris said “We’re all capable of doing the same thing Jossy does, we’ve just got to help her out.”

“I think her teammates stepped up and did the little things that they needed to do to kind of in different ways,” Jackson said.

Coach Jackson said making Wade work for her points was also key to the defensive gameplan.

“I think everybody played really good team defense,” Jackson said, “and we were able to contain a lot and make them really work.”

SV coach Bobby Mellon said Sterling is a great team.

“A lot of it I think comes down to, for whatever reason, in the third quarter, [we] really lost sight of our defensive assignments and what we were trying to accomplish,” he said. “We did not rebound the ball well whatsoever, especially in the second half.”

Sterling’s newer players have continued to improve this season as the Golden Warriors will play for Monday’s tournament title.

“I think we’re starting to see everybody figuring their roles out right now and the team that we kind of want to be in February,” Jackson said. “I like where we are and the things that we’re doing.”

“We’re ready to win this,” Harris said.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 10

Sterling’s Joslynn James works against Stillman Valley’s Sydney Musial Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Duchesses Basketball Christmas Classic. (Alex T. Paschal)