With a trip to the MAIS overall tournament on the line Saturday at Canton Academy, the Lady Cougars had their season come to an end at the hands of familiar foe Bowling Green in the Class 3A consolation game.
In the fourth matchup between the District 4 rivals, Bowling Green’s length and experience got the better of Columbia Academy (17-23) in a 42-30 contest. The two schools split in the regular season, but the Lady Buccaneers knocked out CA in the south state tournament as well as Saturday in the state tournament.
In the half-court game, CA played toe-to-toe with Bowling Green, but the Lady Cougars struggled with turnovers on passes against Bowling Green’s trap defense.
Maggie Wilks led CA with eight points and four rebounds, while Kylan Reagan had seven points and Lauren McDaniel six points and six boards. Reagan and McDaniel were both named to the all-tournament team.
“Yes, if we would’ve won we would’ve went to the overall tournament, but we had 12 girls and just one senior (Reagan). My point to them was that it was practice, and we wanted to make that count,” head coach Dale Watts said. “We used that game as a step towards next year because with losing only one senior I looked at this as a continuation. We’ll take a week off, but sixth period every day we’ll be right back at it.”
In the semifinals Friday night, CA lost a barnburner to Clinton Christian 34-31 that nearly sent the Lady Cougars to the state championship. The game was tied 31-31 in the final minute, but the Lady Cougars turned it over on a travel. Clinton held the ball for the last shot and made a 3-pointer with six seconds to go to win the game.
“We managed to get a little bit of a lead against Clinton Christian, but due to our lack of experience and maturity we made some critical turnovers that really hurt us. But our defense was really good,” Watts said. “We had a plan and we took their best player (Taelor York) and cut her to four points.”
Kylan Reagan and Maggie Wilks took turns guarding York, who is as fast with the ball in her hands as anyone in girls basketball in the state, and Watts said their effort defensively allowed CA to stay in the game.
Peyton McCain nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, while Reagan added nine points and Presley Dease seven rebounds.
“I can’t say enough about my girls. They won the games they had to win,” Watts said. “We were just one basket or one turnover away from being in the state championship, and our girls are young.”
McDaniel, McCain and Wilks are just freshmen, while Dease is a sophomore and Megan Rowley and Olivia Adams are juniors.
Pictured Above: CA's Lauren McDaniel attempts to block a shot Saturday against Bowling Green. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
