Of Roses and Thorns: Anniston Girls Win Regional Championships

By Joe Medley

No, Eddie Bullock didn’t just go all Rick Pitino on his newly crowned Northeast Regional champion Anniston girls.

Yes, he told a funny story he shared with the Bulldogs in preparation for their 34-24 victory over Cherokee County in Thursday’s Class 4A regional final. Just remember, there’s nuance to follow, so wait for it.
“I tell them, and they’ll tell you this right here,” he said. “Nineteen years coaching girls, this is the hardest team I have ever had to coach in my life.”

“It’s the most overall skilled team I’ve ever had, and I was just telling them. If you all could see the big picture and just believe what I’m telling you, we’ve got a shot.”

In other words, he’s not telling the Bulldogs (27-4) how bad they are headed into Tuesday’s 6 p.m. state-semifinal showdown with T.R. Miller in Birmingham. He’s spent a season trying to get them to believe in how good they can be.

You’d think it wouldn’t be hard. Anniston started this season 14-0, mounting the best start of any team Bullock has coached. That’s saying something, considering he’s now coached nine regional-championship teams and one state champion.

Of Anniston’s four losses this season, three came against Class 6A competition. The Bulldogs’ lone loss to a team their own size was to Handley, a team Anniston would be twice after losing to it, and both times by a double-digit margin.

Yet, somehow, Bullock detects a hesitance fo fully believe.

Maybe it comes from missing the state tournament the past two years. An injury to Serena Hardy played a huge role in Anniston’s being eliminated in area play in 2023 … the only Bullock-coached Anniston team to not make it out of area.

“Everybody doubted us and kind of counted us out,” senior post and all-tournament selection Tykeria Smith said. ”It just feels good to get back there” to Birmingham.

Some of that hesitance to believe comes from within, it appears, so Bullock came to a recent practice loaded with scripture. Well, to be fair, he does that often.

“Coach will bring up about 20 different scriptures in one practice,” forward and all-tournament pick Layla Tyus said.

So, which scripture did Bullock emphasize in the leadup to Thursday’s regional final? It came to him on the way to work Wednesday.

“I gave them a scripture yesterday,” Bullock said. “’m not trying to preach to you, but I told them, ‘Paul begged God to remove that thorn from his side.’ I said, ‘Well, y’all have been a thorn all year.’

“I begged God to give me the wisdom to make them see what I’m saying.”

It worked well enough Thursday that Anniston scored a 10-point victory in a regional final that saw the Bulldogs miss 15 of 26 free throws.

They won a game where no player scored in double figures. Tyus led Anniston with nine points. Smith added eight and Hardy seen, and tournament most valuable player A’Kayla Perry scored six.

Ellisan Givens and Neveah Gaidurgis led Cherokee County with six points apiece.

The difference was defense. Anniston got away with 32.3 percent shooting because it held Cherokee County to 22.9 percent. Known for hitting 3-pointers, the Warriors made 2 of 11.

All-tourney pick Mary Hayes Johnson scored three points.

From that, Anniston launches back to Birmingham, a place Bullock knows well. The Bulldogs earned three Final Four berths in a row and one state title before missing the party the past two years.

“I’m really excited, because I haven’t been to Birmingham since ninth grade,” Perry said.

When they go, they go with the head coach’s faith.

“We’re not the best team,” Bullock said, “but we can play with the best, if we do what we need to do.”