Left to right: Coach Amanda Swann, and All Tournament team members Savanna Derrick, Kate Kent (MVP) and Leyton Seal- All images courtesy of Good Hope Principal John Hood
DORA – The Good Hope Lady Raiders pulled off a 49-46 upset of Dora in the Class 4A, Area 10 championship Wednesday night, and will now host a sub-regional playoff game Monday.
The Lady Raiders put together a furious fourth quarter comeback, going on a 12-0 run to the lead and hanging on to it in the final seconds.
The fourth period performance by Amanda Swann's Lady Raiders wiped out a difficult third period in which they turned the ball over eight times, allowed Dora four second chance opportunities and got outscored 16-10 after they began the quarter with a four-point lead.
"I told them to calm down and be patient," a happy Swann said following the game. "We won this game because of the team's pride and the want to win. They are starting to believe in themselves."
Dora had a 14-12 lead after the first period with Deja Pendleton scoring eight points, two baskets from three-point range.
Good Hope grabbed the lead at 18-16 with 2:39 to play in the second on Leyton Seal's first of three treys in the quarter.
Her last one was with two seconds to go, sending the Lady Raiders into the locker room for halftime with a 24-20 lead.
Point guard Savanna Derrick drove to the hoop and hit a shot that made it 26-22 early in the third. Dora then went ahead at 34-26 when Pendleton fired in a three with 2:24 to go.
Poise and patience kept Good Hope in this one. Seal narrowed the deficit to 34-31 on a three and after Keola James scored for Dora with four seconds left, Derrick came down before time ran out, landed a trey from approximately 26 feet and had the Lady Raiders down by the score of 36-34.
Dora got a 15-foot jumper from Brianna Russell to start the fourth, extending the lead to 38-34.
After that, it was time for the Lady Raiders to make their run, with good shot selection and slowing up Dora's offense, not allowing the Lady Bulldogs to score for a span of almost six minutes.
Free throws by Kate Kent sent the Lady Raiders back in front at 39-38 with 6:45 remaining. A three from Ericka Woodall padded the lead to 42-38 and a basket by Kent off an assist from Woodall to Sadie Abbott to the Good Hope center sent them up 46-38 with 3:17 still to play.
Dora finally got back on the scoreboard on a field goal by Ja'Maya Harris and trailed 46-40 with less than 2:00 remaining.
Dora fought hard, cutting it to 47-44 with 18 seconds left when Madison Clayton drove inside the paint and banked a shot off the glass. Dora was out of timeouts and had no choice but to foul.
Abbott was 1-of-2 from the line with 14 seconds left as Good Hope led 48-44.
Pendleton scored for the final time for Dora with five seconds left and the home team trailed 48-46.
Good Hope threw the ball inbounds when they had to. Seal was fouled with four-tenths of a second left on the clock. Seal made the first to make it 49-46, but missed the second.
Kent tapped the ball out as time expired and the Lady Raiders sealed the upset, winning an area title on the road for the first time since the school did it at Danville in 2014 when Good Hope was in Class 3A.
Kent scored 15 points to lead the Lady Raiders to their 12th win of the season and was named tournament MVP. Seal produced 13 and Derrick tossed in 10, both joining Kent on the all-tournament squad. Woodall scored eight and Abbott finished with three.
For Dora, now 9-10, Pendleton delivered a game-high 21 points while Clayton scored nine and earned all-tournament honors.
Good Hope will face the loser of the Area 11 title game between Winfield and Haleyville. The game is Thursday at Winfield with Swann planning to go and scout the Lady Raiders' next opponent.
The sub-regional will tip off Monday at 7 p.m. at Good Hope Gymnasium with the winner to advance to the Northwest Regional at Wallace State and play on Feb. 18.
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