Coach Paden of the Raines Lady Vikings, knew the right strategy he would need to go out and beat Bolles on Tuesday. The Lady Vikings have already beaten Bolles twice and one of those victories came less than ten days prior in their District Championship. The game plan was simple, apply pressure to the guards and make them turn the ball over. This strategy proved to be effective, as the Lady Viking’s defense rained down over the Bolles Lady Bulldogs 58-45 in the regional semifinals.
From the “ShowTime” Lakers of the early 80s, to the 3-peat Lakers of the new millennium, the theory of any good basketball team has been to start with the inside post players and move out to the guards. The Lady Vikings did just that, getting the basketball to junior center Teyana Carswell where she was able to domineer with her presence against the much smaller Lady Bulldogs post players. Couple the front court with a savvy backcourt led by junior point guard Nyla Allen, the Vikings were able to start off with a considerable run that required a quick timeout for Coach Kelly Stevenson.
The Bolles head coach needed to regroup her girls before the hype of the home crowd got too large for the girls to come back from. This proved to be a crucial timeout that allowed for Bolles to alter their approach to the game and come out on the other end with a hot streak of their own led by Amaya Bunch and Ashley Thompkins. Hot shooting worked simultaneously with Raines turnovers allowing for the Bulldogs to take charge at the end of the 1st quarter being up by 1 point.
The second quarter began as the Lady Vikings came out of the huddle with a tenacious full court man pressure that Bolles couldn’t get past. This pressure didn’t let up and neither did the Lady Vikings, Bolles never saw a lead change after that. Costly backcourt turnovers by Bolles opened the floor for fast break points led by game high scorer Ahliah Brown of Raines, who scored 8 of her 24 points in the second quarter. The lead stretched to 12 at the end of the half.
Bolles came out sizzling at the start of the second half with a quick seven point swing led by Shekinah Sanders. Raines took a quick timeout and came out of the huddle with a definite old school strategy, “He who controls the ball controls the game”. Coach Paden and his young ladies held the ball, at first this took Bolles by surprise as they stayed still in their zone defense, but with time running off the clock and the score not being in their favor, Bolles eventually had to come out and play man to man defense which opened up the court for the Lady Vikings to play isolation ball. Raines spread the floor and ultimately opened up the game to almost a twenty point lead by the end of the third.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Vikings 17-15 to end the game but the difference was too much to make up in the end. This day would belong to the Raines Lady Vikings, who move on to the next round. Carswell ended with 14 points for Raines. The Lady Bulldogs were led by Sanders with 19 points, 12 of which came in the second half.
Raines will play against Florida State University High School for the Regional Championship at William Raines High School- Douglas White Gymnasium on Friday, February 22nd. The winner to go to the final four in Lakeland Florida.
