[Stardust]

Tatyannia Taylor has been coming off the Christian Academy bench all season, but coach Don Rice isn’t going to make her a starter even though Taylor helped the Lady Centurions win the 28th District Tournament on Friday night at Eastern.

China Dow, CAL’s first-team All-Seventh Region selection, scored 28 points in her team’s 64-60 victory over Ballard, and Taylor tossed in 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Lady Centurions’ 20th win against 12 losses.

The 5-foot-11 Dow scored 17 of CAL’s first 25 points, and Taylor, a 5-7 junior, tallied the next six as the Lady Centurions never trailed after leading 31-19 to repeat as district champion.

“I took McKenzie (Campbell) out of the game to give her some rest, but Taylor started grabbing everything, so I left her in,’’ Rice said. “China was China, but Taylor did very well. I’ll continue to bring her off the bench because she plays better that way. She’s my sixth man.’’

CAL was happy to avenge a 75-64 loss to Ballard on Jan. 20.

“We wanted to get back at them,’’ said Dow, who hit 9 of 17 shots and 5 of 7 free throws. She hit 5 of 9 3-pointers and took off seven rebounds.

“I just felt it. We had been beaten by Ballard before and we wanted revenge,’’ said Dow, who entered the game with a 26.8 scoring average. “Taylor stepped up and played well. She took a lot of pressure off me.’’

Dow scored CAL’s first seven points before Campbell got the next four for an 11-10 lead. Dow hit her second three with four seconds left in the first quarter for a 17-15 edge.

Taylor, who attended Sacred Heart last year but did not play varsity ball there, seemed pleased with her career high of 17 points. She hit 3 of 4 shots, including her only three, and 8 of 11 free throws.

“My teammates really supported me,’’ Taylor said. “I just wanted to be aggressive. If it (a good game) happens, it happens.’’

Taylor’s play around the basket caused three Ballard players — Maddie Martin, Ki’anna Richardson and Brandy Ray — to foul out in the fourth period. Drea Matchen led Ballard with 24 points, hitting 9 of 16 shots, including one three, and 5 of 7 free throws.

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