HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Good Hope Lady Raiders were back in the Northwest Regional Championship Game Wednesday for the second straight season, looking to improve on last year’s run and earn a trip to Birmingham. Unfortunately for the hometown crowd, the second-ranked Lady Raiders weren’t able to topple No. 1 Deshler and the Lady Tigers defeated Good Hope 46-38.
Lady Raiders Head Coach Justin Aby liked the way they handled Deshler defensively throughout the game, but they could never quite get into a rhythm on the offensive end. Aby knows his team is disappointed with today’s result but doesn’t want that to diminish the stellar season they’ve put together.
“We just struggled offensively today, and I think that pretty much explains everything that we went through. We went 11 for 44 and that’s a pretty low percentage so we’ve got to better offensively,” Aby said. “I was telling the girls in the locker room after the game that I don’t want this one game to take away from everything they’ve accomplished all year. They were able to beat a really good 7A team at our Christmas tournament we were in, we won the county tournament and making it to the Elite 8 is a huge accomplishment.”
Deshler took an early 4-0 lead over the Lady Raiders, but Ivey Maddox knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 1-point game. Bailey Tetro drove to the basket and drew a foul later in the period and after netting both free throws, Good Hope took a 5-4 lead midway through the first quarter. An 8-0 run by the Lady Tigers made it a 12-5 game but Heather Tetro drilled a three to trim the lead to 12-8 with a minute remaining in the opening period. Maddox followed her with another triple that cut the lead to two in the final seconds of the first and the Lady Raiders went into the second trailing 13-11.
Points were tough to come by in the second quarter. After a jumper by Bailey Tetro tied the game at 13 early in the period, both defenses tightened up. Deshler was able to pull ahead 17-13 but a basket from Maddox made it a 2-point game with less than three minutes to play in the half. The Lady Tigers got one more shot to fall before the break and Good Hope went into the locker room at halftime trailing 19-15.
Deshler took a 22-15 lead early in the third quarter, but Maddox stayed hot from three-point range, knocking down her third trey of the game to trim the lead to 22-18. The Lady Tigers moved back in front 27-18 midway through the third but Desire’ Odachowski and Bailey Tetro each sank a pair of free throws to bring the Lady Raiders back within five. Deshler managed to tack on two more points before the end of the period and went into the fourth leading Good Hope 29-22.
Three quick baskets stretched the Lady Tigers’ lead to 35-22 early in the fourth quarter but Bailey Tetro stopped the run with a three to make it a 35-35 game and Maddox drained a jumper to cut the lead to eight. A pair of Rudi Derrick free throws trimmed the lead to 37-29 midway through the period and another three by Maddox made it 39-32. Another Maddox bucket brought the lead down to 39-34 with three minutes on the clock but a quick scoring run by Deshler made it a 43-34 game. Charly Johnson split a pair of free throws to chip away at the lead and Kyndall Seal drained a deep three with 30 seconds to play but the Lady Raiders just ran out of time and Deshler held on to win it 46-38.
Maddox led all scorers with 18 points in the loss. Bailey Tetro finished with nine and Seal and Heather Tetro each added three. Good Hope finishes off another Elite 8 season with a record of 30-5 and with four of five starters returning, the Lady Raiders will be in prime position to make another postseason run.
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