BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
MONTGOMERY — After losing to Briarwood Christian in the sub-regional round last year, the Valley High School basketball team entered the girls’ 5A central region tournament with revenge on its mind.
Despite a promising start, the Lady Rams (18-6) got into foul trouble, and the Lady Lions (21-10) made 23 of 32 free throws to end VHS’ season with a 57-23 loss on Feb. 19.
After the game, VHS head coach Eberne Myrthil acknowledged that BC would be one of the biggest challenges his team faced so far this year.
“We knew coming in that [Briarwood] was a senior-led team, and they had a lot of ball players. We gave a good fight the first quarter, but that second quarter put us in a hole, and it’s hard to dig out of a 16-point hole,” Myrthil said. “Anytime you play a press defense, you’re going to get in foul trouble. You try to trade off the fouls for steals that create transition offense. And sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t.”
It was a postseason run fueled by a sisterhood that truly shone during a 48-43 win against Lanett High School on Jan. 9.
According to Myrthil, that encouragement from the bench made him the proudest at any point in the season and showed him their preseason goal of making the regional tournament was well within reach.
“I saw fight, they never gave up, and like I told each and every single one of them, use this as fuel,” Myrthil said. “Kayden Dooley, Makaila Adams, Zorriah Simpson and Kelsi Carr, those girls took it upon their shoulders to say, ‘We’re going to get here.’ And anytime you have young ladies like that that want to get better and willing to be coached, the sky’s the limit.”
Although BC’s mid-range jump shot proved potent early on, VHS started hot after Makaila Adams scored five points, including a three-pointer on the first possession, in the opening three minutes. However, the Lady Rams found themselves in a 10-9 dogfight after the Lady Lions hit a three in the first quarter’s final seconds.
After mostly keeping BC out of the paint, VHS faced its first deficit early in the second quarter as BC found more success near the rim and denied the Lady Rams quality shots. That deficit then snowballed into a 17-0 Lady Lions run despite VHS’ desperate full-court press.
Coming out of the locker room down 26-10, the Lady Rams initially redeemed themselves by zipping the ball around and getting more players involved offensively. Despite that improvement, a near-flawless offensive performance by BC’s Ann Tatum Baker and her teammates put VHS in a 49-23 hole going into the fourth quarter.
With the result all but settled, the Lady Lions were content to dribble the ball out to drain the clock, and the Lady Rams pushed the ball up the court to cut the final deficit as much as possible.
Adams powered VHS with eight points, while Kyla Williams contributed six points. Baker led all scorers with 24 points for BC, and Emma Kerley finished with 11 points.
