BY ROB DAVIS
A historic season for the Lee-Scott Academy girls basketball team came to an end on Wednesday with an 85-18 loss to perennial power Saint James School at the AHSAA 3A Central Regionals held at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on the campus of Alabama State University in Montgomery.
It was the first trip ever to the regionals for the Warriors girls basketball program which finished the season with a 20-10 record. Lee-Scott Head Coach Corye Harrison was grateful for the opportunity the team had to experience the atmosphere of the regionals and hopes that despite the loss the girls will remember what they achieved as a team.
“What happened in this game doesn’t diminish what we accomplished this season,” Harrison said. “We won 20 basketball games and won the area championship and went further than any Lee-Scott girls team has ever made it and I told the girls to not lose sight of that.”
Saint James rolled into the regionals with just four losses on the season and ranked #1 in the region. It didn’t take long for the Trojans to impose their will on the Warriors, using a frenzied pressure defense to cause turnovers and create breakaway layups and easy buckets. Kaitlin Mitchell had 21 points and both Natalie Barton and Kaden Fair added 18 for the Trojans who advanced to the second round of the regionals.
“This was by far the best basketball team that I’ve coached against,” Harrison said. “We didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the basketball. If we throw them the ball they’re just gonna shoot layups, and we knew that coming into the game. I told them at halftime to come out and play 16 minutes of basketball the way we want to end the year, and I’m proud of the way they responded.”
Lee-Scott’s Clarke Ivatt scored 10 points despite being double-teamed for much of the game. She also led all players with nine rebounds. Though disappointed with the loss, Ivatt turned reflective following the game.
“This was a good experience for us and we’re the first Lee-Scott girls team to make it this far,” Ivatt said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game, and we just tried to go out, play our game and leave it all on the court.”
Neither team was sharp from outside the three-point line, as Lee-Scott hit two out of 20 attempts, and Saint James hit just three out of 16 attempts. The Trojans attempted 74 shots while the Warriors attempted only 36, which was a testament to the stifling defense of Saint James which caused 36 turnovers. “I think that next year we have the same players returning minus one so we should be more mature which will make moments like this seem not so big,” Harrison said. “Again, I don’t want this game to diminish everything that we accomplished this year. I’m just so proud of these girls, and the future looks bright for Lee-Scott girls basketball.”
