Ohatchee leads for most of the game, but couldn’t hold it down the stretch and Geraldine steals Northeast Regional win
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE – Bryant Ginn told his Ohatchee girls basketball team after the game that basketball is funny sometimes in the way the keepers of the game let the ball go in the basket at times and not at others. But there was nothing amusing about what happen to the Lady Indians in the Class 3A Northeast Regional Thursday.
The Area 11 champions were on the verge of scoring their first regional victory in school history. They were leading nearly the whole game, but Geraldine put together a decisive stretch in the fourth quarter and crushed the Lady Indians’ dreams 58-50.
“It’s a gut punch,” Ginn said. “I hate it for them. I hate it that we couldn’t get to that regional final and a shot for the Final Four because they deserve it. They played hard. Some nights it’s your night and some nights it ain’t your night.”
For the longest time it looked like it was going to be their night. They were up by 11 in the first half and by six going into the fourth quarter. They led the game for a total of 25 minutes, 52 seconds. Geraldine led for all of 3 minutes, 42 seconds.
Shelby Trester put the Lady Bulldogs ahead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:12 to play. It was her only field goal of the game.
“We led the minutes that counted,” Geraldine coach Jamie Gilbert said. “Just sticking to our game plan. These girls just never gave up. That’s been their M.O.”
After going 13-for-51 from the field over the first three quarters, the Lady Bulldogs were 7-of-12 in the fourth quarter (3-for-5 from 3-point range). Ohatchee was only 2-for-6 in the fourth quarter after going 18-for-38 to that point.
“When you’re up all three quarters and even halfway through the fourth that makes it tougher,” Ginn said. “I almost felt like the momentum got in their favor and we couldn’t stop it. The snowball started, their crowd got into it, some fouls happened and their No. 23 (Gracey Johnson) knocked down some tough shots with hands in her face.
“I told the girls it’s almost like basketball’s funny. Some nights the ball goes in and some nights the ball don’t and tonight it went in for them late and it didn’t for us. Late in the game we couldn’t find that energy back again to get several stops in a row. We probably ran out of gas there with about four minutes to go.”
The game was a shootout of battling 23s. Ohatchee’s 23, Jorda Crook, led her team with 33 points, 18 rebounds, six steals and four blocked shots. Geraldine’s 23, Johnson, led all scorers with 36 points and never came off the floor.
The difference was Ohatchee’s 23 turnovers, off which Geraldine scored 25 points, and going 6-of-14 from the free throw line. They were 1-for-9 from the line in the second half. Their last field goal came with 6:36 to play.
“It was ours to take and we didn’t take advantage of it,” Crook lamented. “We came up a little bit short. I’m not saying we played bad, but we could’ve played a little bit better.”
Ginn coached the game in a sporty blue suit with a bright red tie, fulfilling a promise he made to his team for reaching the regionals. He got out of it last year when the Lady Indians’ played their regional semifinal on the road due to COVID protocols, but he told them he would do it this year.
“I held up my end of the deal,” Ginn said.
But Morgan Foushee, sitting two seats down at the end of the table in the interview room, dipped her head and sadly added, “We’re sorry we couldn’t hold up ours.”
CLASS 3A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls Semifinals
Geraldine 58, Ohatchee 50
GERALDINE – Chloe Murdock 1-7 0-0 2, Alexis Powell 0-2 0-0 0, Shelby Trester 1-10 7-7 10, Jaden Dismuke 2-7 0-0 4, Gracey Johnson 13-31 5-7 36, Lily Ramirez 0-0 0-0 0, Kristen Armstrong 0-1 0-0 0, Zoe Faulkner 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Kaleigh Butler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-63 12-14 58.
OHATCHEE – Whitney McFry 0-3 0-0 0, Morgan Foushee 1-7 2-4 5, Gracie George 1-4 0-0 2, Millie Rainwater 1-5 0-1 3, Jorda Crook 14-21 4-9 33, Tabi Davidson 1-1 0-0 2, Kiana Garber 1-1 0-0 2, Lindsey Zurchin 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 20-44 6-14 50.
Geraldine 7 14 13 14 – 58
Ohatchee 14 15 11 10 – 50
3-point goals: Geraldine 6-20 (Murdock 0-2, Trester 1-4, Diismuke 0-4, Johnson 5-10); Ohatchee 4-16 (Foushee 1-7, Rainwater 1-5, Crook 1-2, Zurchin 1-2). Rebounds: Geraldine 36 (Johnson 8); Ohatchee 40 (Crook 18). Total fouls: Geraldine 14, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Baer, Carney, Cobb. [*** read more]
