By Dean Harrell
New Hope rides crowd energy, hot shooting to jump on Anniston early, ends Lady Dawgs season in regional semifinals; Ragland falls in 1A semis
JACKSONVILLE – The Anniston Lady Bulldogs have had a long year to say the least. Despite their success in previous seasons, this year was met with several obstacles.
Coming off a state runner-up season, they had a lot of pressure on them to be just as successful this year, but doing it with a less-experienced lineup.
This season didn’t turn out the same for the Lady Dawgs. They won 18 games, but the year ended in the Class 4A Northeast Regional semifinals, a 57-44 loss to the sharpshooting New Hope Indians Saturday at Jacksonville State.
“I try to teach them that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression; you have to do it now,” Lady Bulldogs coach Eddie Bullock said. “Unfortunately, we tried to do it in the fourth quarter rather than the first three.”
Anniston outscored New Hope 14-12 in the fourth quarter, but by then had fallen behind by 15.
New Hope controlled the game from tip, never giving up the lead the entire game. It was obvious the Lady Indians aimed to prove themselves after being eliminated early in the regional tournament last year.
“We got knocked out early last year and I know we didn’t want that to happen again,” New Hope coach Terrance McGill said. “All year we’ve seen how good of a team we can be and today was a testament to that.”
New Hope seemed to have home-court advantage with their massive crowd, and with each of the five 3-pointers by Eevy Bellar, it seemed to get louder and louder. Bellar scored 17 points with all her field goals (5-for-8) coming from behind the arc.
“It feels great when your shots are falling and you can hear your fans have your back even more throughout the game. I think our crowd definitely kept us going and pushing until the final buzzer,” said Bellar.
Not only was Bellar making a massive impact on the game, freshman teammate Kaylee Yarbrough did as well. She scored 23 points off 8-of-17 shooting from the field.
“We were just having fun out there,” Yarbrough said. “Shots were falling, our defense was great, and the game plan was working for us all game. We just have to continue doing things like this for every game we play.”
The Lady Indians (24-5) were 18-of-37 from the field against the Lady Bulldogs and aim to continue their offensive efficiency in the regional finals against Handley at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Handley took out Priceville, 76-59.
Anniston (18-11), meanwhile, struggled to hit shots all game, going 15-of-47 from the field. Serena Hardy, its second-leading scorer, finished her night with 15 points, going 4-of-17 from the field.
“The ball just wasn’t falling our way tonight,” Hardy said. “Shots didn’t go in like they normally do and it definitely affected the outcome.”
Shiwanna Jackson was not going to go down without a fight. She scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds that was more than half the team’s total. Nine of her points came in the fourth quarter.
“I just wanted to fight to come back and win the game,” Jackson said. “I just wanted to play as tough as I could for that last quarter.”
“She played like we figured she could play all year,” Bullock said. “She was one of our starters last year until she got hurt. We felt that we would have an advantage on them on the inside, but we didn’t demand it until the fourth quarter.”
CLASS 4A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls semifinals
New Hope 57, Anniston 44
NEW HOPE (24-5) – Jordan Spivey 0-3 0-1 0, Kaylee Lebon 1-1 3-4 5, Jada Bates 2-2 2-2 6, Eevy Bellar 5-8 2-2 17, Kaylee Yarbrough 8-17 5-6 23, Hope Hammond 0-2 0-0 0, Kacey Thompson 1-1 0-0 3, Grace Hammond 0-0 0-0 0, McKinlee Keel 1-3 0-2 3. Totals 18-37 12-17 57.
ANNISTON (18-11) – Taysia West 0-3 0-0 0, Serena Hardy 4-17 3-4 15, Shiwanna Jackson 6-10 4-4 16, A’Kayla Perry 2-4 0-0 5, Tykeria Smith 1-4 2-2 4, Naleyah Gipson 0-0 0-0 0, Nina Farrow 0-1 0-0 0, Jade Richarrdson 0-0 0-0 0, MaTasia Truss 0-0 0-0 0, Jenayzia Oliver 0-0 0-0 0, Tiauna Thomas 2-8 0-2 4, Kiara Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Bertavia Carter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 9-10 44.
New Hope 16 17 12 12 – 57
Anniston 8 15 7 14 – 44
3-pont goals: New Hope 9-25 (Spivey 0-3, Bellar 5-8, Yarbrough 2-9, Hammond 0-2, Thompson 1-1, Keel 0-2); Anniston 5-17 (Hardy 4-12, Perry 1-3, T. Thomas 0-2). Rebounds: New Hope 32 (Lebon 10, Keel 5); Anniston 22 (Jackson 12). Fouled out: Jackson. Total fouls: New Hope 11, Anniston 14. Officials: Williams, Pruitt, Caldwell.
Class 1A Girls
SKYLINE 64, RAGLAND 25 – Skyline forced the Lady Purple Devils into 26 turnovers, off which it scored 34 points, and put four scorers in double figures to advance to the regional championship game.
The Lady Vikings (26-8) never trailed. They jumped out to a 22-5 lead in the first quarter and expanded it to 44-12 at halftime. Blakely Stucky led Skyline with 20 points, 14 in the first quarter. Kenzie Manning had 15 points, Lexie Stucky 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Brinlee Potts had 10.
Cadence Buchanan led Ragland (25-4) with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Skyline will play Decatur Heritage for a trip to the Final Four Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“We struggled to protect the basketball and get back in transition tonight and that hurt us,” Ragland coach Sawyer Merritt said. “I am proud of the fight we showed throughout the game and the season. It hurts to end the season this way but we understand this game doesn’t define our season.
“I could not ask for a better group of girls to coach. What they have accomplished goes beyond wins and losses. They re-established a winning culture to Ragland girls basketball.”
CLASS 1A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls semifinals
Skyline 64, Ragland 25
SKYLINE (26-8) –Gracie Rowell 2-8 0-0 5, Kenzie Manning 7-13 1-1 15, Kaina King 0-6 0-0 0, Blakely Stucky 9-12 0-00 20, Lexie Stucky 5-13 1-2 11, Brinlee Potts 4-7 1-2 10, Audra Bellomy 1-6 0-0 3, Jaslynn Wilkinson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 3-5 64.
RAGLAND (25-4) –Sammie Day-Jones 3-6 0-3 7, Rylee Mickler 0-2 1-5 1, Cadence Buchanan 6-13 1-3 13, Campbell Adams 2-12 0-0 4, Aubrey Ball 0-2 0-0 0, Hannah Ragsdale 0-1 0-0 0, Jaymie Rains 0-0 0-0 0, Shelby Spanyer 0-1 0-1 0, Nya Brewster 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 2-12 25.
Skyline 22 22 14 6 – 64
Ragland 5 7 4 9 – 25
3-point goals: Skyline 5-27 (Rowell 1-6, Manning 0-4, King 0-3, B. Stucky 2-2, Potts 1-2, Bellomy 1-6, Wilkinson 0-4); Ragland 1-7 (Day-Jones 1-2, Buchanan 0-1, Adams 0-2, Ball 0-1, Spanyer 0-1). Rebounds: Skyline 45 (L. Stucky 10, Rowell 6); Ragland 32 (Buchanan 13, Day-Jones 7). Total fouls: Skyline 12, Ragland 10. Officials: Williams, Kreitz, Caldwell.
Dean Harrell is a senior at The Donoho School and a regular contributor to East Alabama Sports Today. [*** read more]
