Ohatchee, AL – Ohatchee girls dance their way into area title game, subregion round with 67-40 win over Hokes Bluff, will play Glencoe Wednesday for area crown
CLASS 3A AREA 12 GIRLS
Glencoe 68, Westbrook Christian 40
Ohatchee 67, Hokes Bluff 40
Wednesday’s game
Championship: Glencoe at Ohatchee, 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
The players had already gone back to the dressing room, ready for the coach’s post-game remarks on the game they had just won. Then the sound of the band playing their song came blasting through the walls and Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn knew he had lost them. The Indians came pouring back onto the floor like they were chasing the neighborhood ice cream truck and broke into a spontaneous line dance in front of their bench that will now become their post-season trademark.
“I don’t even know what we call it,” Ginn said as he swept the floor after his team put away Hokes Bluff 67-40 Monday in the Class 3A Area 12 girls tournament semifinals. “We play it at pep rallies all the time and (in) the game, those girls go nuts. If they ever play that, the attention is over. In a timeout if they play that, they’re over there dancing. They don’t even look at me.” At least they had taken care of their business this time. It was the first time they broke it out after a game.
Officially, they call it “Jig 2” and it burst on the scene in a football-style pep rally for the volleyball team’s regional sendoff in the fall. But that team already had a good luck charm –remember those pink cowboy hats? – so this is the girls basketball team’s answer. “That is just our jam,” post Alyssa Davis said. “Jig 2 is the statement in our school. We all love it. We love our band. If you catch us at all the home games (and) the pep band’s here, timeouts, quarter change, we are constantly dancing to whatever they play because we know all the dances the cheerleaders know.” “It’s like our town dance,” guard Kiana Garber said. “Everyone loves it. It’s just something fun we can all do.”
The top-seeded Indians will play Glencoe for the tournament title Wednesday. Glencoe took down third-seeded Westbrook Christian 68-40. Regardless of Wednesday’s outcome, both teams are guaranteed a spot in the subregion round against the two survivors from Area 11 (Piedmont, Saks, Wellborn, Weaver). The deeper the Indians go in the playoffs, the better the opponents will be and the more they’ll be devising inventive ways to wrap up Jorda Crook. As that happens, Ginn knows the importance of the other four on the floor stepping up to help out.
