AISA GIRLS FINALS: Springood size too much to overcome for Lowndes in finals loss
Lowndes Academy’s Abby Lovell is chased by three Springwood defenders in the Class AA state championship game at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
There weren’t many options for Lowndes Academy coach Matt Marshall.
At every position, Springwood School was bigger and taller than the Lowndes Academy girls. Friday’s Class AA state championship game could get ugly if Marshall couldn’t find a way to overcome the disparity in height.
“Stay in front of them, that was our goal,” Marshall said. “We were going to try to make them take 2s, long 3s. They hurt us rebounding. They’ve got a lot of rebounds (and) putbacks. That’s a good basketball team. They’re state champs for a reason.”
The Wildcats (20-1) outscored the Rebels in every quarter, pulling away for an easy 49-29 win over Lowndes in the Alabama Independent School Association’s AA finals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
“That’s a very good, experienced team,” Marshall said. “Every time we took our eyes off somebody, they were cutting. They’re really good. Our goal was to try and keep them out of the lane as much as we could and force the long shots. We knew we had to rebound, but I felt like we got pushed around a little bit.
“But the girls never gave up. We actually cut it to 10 with about three minutes to go. But over a three-day span, every game has been pretty tough for us and being small, it’s taken a lot out of us and I felt like with about three minutes to go, we were done. Our legs were gone, our energy was gone.”
Lowndes was able to dictate the tempo for the first four minutes of the game but the Rebels’ inability to rebound missed shots began to take a toll in the second quarter. The Rebels got a break a little over four minutes into the game when Springwood’s Shalexia Little went to the bench with her second personal foul, but Little returned in the second quarter and the Wildcats picked up where they left off.
“We started running backdoor lobs when she was out of the game,” Marshall said. “She’s a special player. That’s one of the best players in the whole league. We were switching everything, sometimes keeping two players on her but they do such a good job spacing the floor and putting you in situations where it’s really hard to help.”
Springwood coach Lisa Sampson said she started out with one plan, but switched to an offense that spread out the players to take advantage of the Wildcats’ size over their smaller opponents.
“They were a great team, fundamentally sound,” Sampson said. “We spread them out offensively and that really seemed to work. Our kids do a great job of sharing the basketball and making the right passes. I’m super proud of them. They had a great season.”
Little led the Wildcats with 19 points, followed by Tori Patillo with 14 and Emily Jo Matthews with eight. Abby Lovell led Lowndes with 10 points, followed by Camryn Hess with eight.
Making the all-tournament team were Little, Patillo and Matthews of Springwood, Hess and Haylon Self of Lowndes, Abby Sluder of Southern and Brook Brasell of Clarke Prep.
Lowndes finished the season at 14-5, reaching the state finals for the sixth time in the last 11 years.
“I felt like we overachieved a little, but I don’t want to say that and it sounds like, well, you weren’t any good,” Marshall said. “I felt like we reached our potential for this team for right now. But we’re a young team. We’ve got a lot of people coming back. The conversation back there (in the locker room) was that I’m proud of them, stay together, keep playing three sports a year and get in the weight room.”
CLASS A
Jackson Academy 48, North River Christian 36
Bethany Clayton scored 14 points to lead Jackson Academy to the Class A state championship with a 48-36 win over North River Christian on Friday at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
Olivia Garris added 10 points, followed by Lola Carlisle with nine and Lily Carlisle with eight.
Diamond Chankio had 15 points to lead North River Christian, which was making its first-ever trip to the state finals. Alayna Fuller and Halle Burch each added seven points for the Chargers.