Just before the holiday, Bradwell’s Lady Tiger basketball team returned from the 2011 Great Southern Shootout in Macon, where the girls finished 1-2 in games played Dec. 17, Dec. 21 and Dec. 22, respectively. The BI and Liberty boys are in Statesboro, where they both won tournament openers Monday night. The BI boys defeated Mundy Mills High, 85-81, and the Panthers still are undefeated at 9-0 after beating Glenn Hills, 57-55.
Coach Faye Baker said the girls beat Rutland in game one (final
score not available), but lost to Northeast Macon (47-44) and Northside Warner-Robins (46-35) in games two and three.
Baker said her toughest challenge came against Warner-Robins, which fielded an aggressive team.
“I remember distinctly when we played Warner-Robins. The score, at one point, was 29-3,” she said. “They were so aggressive and it just took us by surprise. We couldn’t do anything right in the first half. But one thing I was pleased about was we didn’t quit and in the second half, we reduced that margin to within seven points. We ended up losing by 11.”
The coach said the game against Warner-Robins later was a discussion point with her squad. She said the girls need to push each other harder at practice in order to prepare themselves for aggressive teams.
“It took us a while to adjust to that,” Baker said. “It was also a 10:30 a.m. game and I’m sure that was another adjustment. We came out flat, but I was real pleased that we fought back in that game. We didn’t quit or give up. We were able to come back and make the game respectable.”
The coach added that Shaquoia Crockett steadily has improved since sitting out one game against Groves on Dec. 13.
Crockett paced the BI girls against Rutland, scoring 33 points and eventually was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Baker also said she was impressed with junior varsity freshman starter Javonna Clarity, who got an opportunity to play against Warner-Robins and was the second-leading scorer in the game.
“I got a chance to play everybody and I saw some good things, especially in the third game,” Baker said. “I got to see some good things out of my freshman forward, Javonna Clarity. It was good to see her have that type of performance that will boost her confidence, and I will definitely throw her in the fire a lot more because she did a lot of good things in every aspect of the game.”
Senior Lady Tiger Leitia Leitaua wowed her coach with an aggressive performance on offense throughout the tournament.
Baker said even though her team came up a little short in the tournament, the experience gained against tough teams and the time the girls were able to spend in Macon forged a bond between them.
“We talked about it after the games and talked about the things we need to do going in to 2012,” Baker said.
The BI girls now are 5-6 overall and 3-2 in Region 3-AAAAA. The girls get a brief reprieve before starting region play at Windsor Forest on Jan. 6.
“We want to be playing our best ball toward the end of the season. We are trying to stay above water but I still think we have a good chance of making the playoffs,” Baker said.
In Statesboro, the BI boys’ victory over Mundy Mills makes them 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the region. The boys were scheduled to play Glenn Hills last night and will take on Osborne at 6:30 p.m. tonight
The Panthers’ victory over Glenn Hills keeps them at 9-0. They were set to play Osborne last night and will play Mundy Mills at 5 p.m. tonight.