The bus rides home from Stone Mountain and Columbus were silent, a time for reflection Wednesday night after the Lady Tigers and the Lady Panthers were knocked out of state playoffs, both in round 2.
Lady Tigers 21, Stephenson 74
Stephenson has proven itself to be a formidable opponent, twice knocking out the Lady Tigers in the first rounds of state, first in 2003 and again in 2006. This year Bradwell made it into the second round, but the third meeting turned out to be a charm for Stephenson.
"They did it to us in grand fashion," Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said. "In the past we were able to be competitive with them but they came out, took the lead and never looked back."
Baker said Stephenson has always been a good, very athletic team and on Wednesday night it was no exception. Despite the loss, the coach said she was very proud of her team.
"Mission accomplished," she said. "Being able to make it to state with such a young team, this is more than I expected and for our young players it was a great experience. I was hoping they would see what it's like at state and now they know what they have to do next year to come back better."
The Lady Tigers finished the season with an impressive 22-8 overall and 13-4 in 3-AAAAA region record.
Lady Panthers 35, Kendrick 61
Kendrick continued their domination on the courts with a huge victory over the Lady Panthers. The 2-AAA Lady Cherokees are undefeated, posting a 29-0 record overall and a 20-0 record for their region.
Even with the return of LaQuananisha Adams, who missed some games due to a knee injury, Kendrick ran up the score and held Adams to only 6 points. With Kendrick still scoring around the 6'3" Adams, it was up to the rest of the Lady Panthers to kick into gear.
Metra Walthour did score in the double digits with 13-points but she was the only Lady Panther to hit the double mark.
Lady Panther coach Carolyn Kelly knew before the game it would be up to the rest of her squad. She knew Kendrick would do their best to shut Adams and Walthour out of the game, and they did.
Kelly said Kendrick was state ranked for a reason and had girls on their team capable of playing at the division one level.
The Lady Panthers will lose Walthour and Adams to Georgia Tech next year. But the Lady Panthers are not down and, definitely, not out finishing the year 22-5 overall and 10-3 in the 3-AAA region.
They have several key players returning next season who showed a lot of improvement this season. Look for Kourtney Alexander, Miata Askew, Candace Barham and Precious Wlliams to come back for another chance at state next year.
Lady Tigers 21, Stephenson 74
Stephenson has proven itself to be a formidable opponent, twice knocking out the Lady Tigers in the first rounds of state, first in 2003 and again in 2006. This year Bradwell made it into the second round, but the third meeting turned out to be a charm for Stephenson.
"They did it to us in grand fashion," Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said. "In the past we were able to be competitive with them but they came out, took the lead and never looked back."
Baker said Stephenson has always been a good, very athletic team and on Wednesday night it was no exception. Despite the loss, the coach said she was very proud of her team.
"Mission accomplished," she said. "Being able to make it to state with such a young team, this is more than I expected and for our young players it was a great experience. I was hoping they would see what it's like at state and now they know what they have to do next year to come back better."
The Lady Tigers finished the season with an impressive 22-8 overall and 13-4 in 3-AAAAA region record.
Lady Panthers 35, Kendrick 61
Kendrick continued their domination on the courts with a huge victory over the Lady Panthers. The 2-AAA Lady Cherokees are undefeated, posting a 29-0 record overall and a 20-0 record for their region.
Even with the return of LaQuananisha Adams, who missed some games due to a knee injury, Kendrick ran up the score and held Adams to only 6 points. With Kendrick still scoring around the 6'3" Adams, it was up to the rest of the Lady Panthers to kick into gear.
Metra Walthour did score in the double digits with 13-points but she was the only Lady Panther to hit the double mark.
Lady Panther coach Carolyn Kelly knew before the game it would be up to the rest of her squad. She knew Kendrick would do their best to shut Adams and Walthour out of the game, and they did.
Kelly said Kendrick was state ranked for a reason and had girls on their team capable of playing at the division one level.
The Lady Panthers will lose Walthour and Adams to Georgia Tech next year. But the Lady Panthers are not down and, definitely, not out finishing the year 22-5 overall and 10-3 in the 3-AAA region.
They have several key players returning next season who showed a lot of improvement this season. Look for Kourtney Alexander, Miata Askew, Candace Barham and Precious Wlliams to come back for another chance at state next year.