Bishops strengthen hold on Region 6-AA

Burke girls basketball coach George Pettigrew offered a concession speech after Bishop England posted a 59-49 Region 6-AA victory Friday night at Modie Risher Gym.

The victory gave the Bishops a two-game lead with four conference games to go.

"Bishop England won the region title tonight," Pettigrew said. "We have two region losses and Woodland has two region losses. Bishop England will not lose two games, trust me. If Woodland beats them, that's one loss. But no other team will beat Bishop England, believe me."

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Bishop England at Burke girls basketball

Bishop England defeated Burke, 59-49, in girls basketball action Friday night at Burke.

The Bishops upped their record to 14-3, including 6-0 in league play. Burke fell to 10-5, 4-2. The Bishops have one more game against Woodland, a team they beat by 12 points earlier in the season.

Mallory Molony led the Bishops with a monster effort that included 23 points, 14 rebounds and four steals. Elizabeth Works added 10 points and Amber Corbett eight. Point guard Katelyn Grisillo did a good job of distributing the ball, finishing with six assists.

Bishop England coach Paul Runey was pleased that his team took a big step toward the title, but still saw room for improvement.

"One of my faults is being too hard on the team, but we're not playing as well as we could," he said. "There was no whooping and hollering in the locker room after the game. The girls know we can play better. I see us miss open shots and things like that, and I know we can get better. We can't miss open shots when it comes tournament time. I'm real proud of this team. But we can still play better."

Bishop England outscored Burke, 16-12, in the second quarter to take a 29-25 lead at halftime. The Bishops pushed the lead to 46-40 after three periods.

Alexis Jones led the Bulldogs with 15 points.

The Bulldogs were down to eight players Friday night with injuries taking a toll on the team.

"This isn't the same team I had at the beginning of the season," Pettigrew said. "We're down to eight bodies. That's all that's left."

Jones, who scored 15 points, has a fractured bone in her football and wears a boot most of the week and practices only once a week. Point guard Jamilla Dickerson is out for the year with a knee injury while No. 2 guard Brittany Wall is sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Bishop England (59): Grisillo 4, Breland 6, Corbett 8, Moore 6, Molony 23, Works 10, Collier 2.

Burke (49): Brown 7, Fields 5, Owens 9, L. Jones 8, A. Jones 15, McNeil 5.

Records: Bishop England 14-3, 6-0. Burke 10-5, 4-2.