Lady Buffs' posts do in Logan

Logan’s Danielle Mitchell is fouled by Audry Hemminger of Melrose after grabbing a rebound. CNJ photo by Rick White.

TEXICO — Audry Hemminger and Allison Cochran were 12 feet of trouble for the Logan Lady Longhorns.

The 6-foot Melrose posts combined for 34 points and dominated the boards while leading the Lady Buffaloes to a 58-43 win Thursday in the fifth-place game of the 47th annual EPAC basketball tournament at the Texico Sports Arena.

Hemminger, a 6-1 junior, finished with 24 points for the Lady Buffs, who erased a three-point halftime deficit with a 17-2 run at the start of second half and never looked back.

Hemminger said the Lady Buffs executed better and played with more intensity during a 39-point second half.

“That’s the best we’ve executed all season,” said Hemminger, the beneficiary of several pretty feeds from Cochran, a 6-0 senior who finished with 10 points. “Coach reminded us that we need to take advantage of our height and that’s what we did.”

While Melrose (4-9) was pounding the ball inside, Logan was struggling to generate any kind of offense.

The Lady Longhorns (4-8) managed to score just nine points in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

In the first half, senior post Nikki Rodgers scored 13 points and Danielle Mitchell hit three 3s as Logan grabbed a 23-20 lead.

Rodgers, who finished with 22 points, didn’t score in the second half until the game was out of reach, while Mitchell was held scoreless.

Melrose coach Sheila Roberts said she told her team to concentrate on Rodgers and Mitchell and make somebody else beat them.

“We put one girl in front of (Rodgers) and one girl in back of her and made sure we got a hand in (Mitchell’s) face,” Roberts said. “Otherwise, we just tightened up the zone.”

The Lady Buffs employed a full-court press to start the second half, which trigged Melrose’s game-breaking run.

“I think that was the biggest difference,” Roberts said. “That got us going.”

Jessica Hail added 12 points for Melrose.