HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The defending 4A state champion Good Hope Lady Raiders handled Dora in the Sweet 16 last week to set up another huge postseason matchup with Deshler in the Northwest Regional finals on Tuesday. The Raiders and Tigers have had several intense battles over the last few years and Tuesday’s contest was no different. Good Hope built a 12-point lead by halftime and cranked up the pressure on the defensive end in the second half, pulling away to collect a 70-50 win and punching their ticket back to the Final Four.
The Raiders outrebounded the Tigers 34-24 in the game and that was an emphasis for Head Coach Justin Aby and his staff as they prepared for this matchup.
“One of our assistant coaches pulled the stats from the last three times that we played Deshler and for the last three years, the team that won the rebounding battle won the game. I’m sitting here looking at the stats and tonight we won the rebounding battle,” Aby said. “It was great for Coach (Nina) Moss to bring that up and she’s been focused on it with them all week. They did a great job with it.”
Four Raiders scored in double figures and Aby believes they’re at their best when they play with that balance on the offensive end.
“We were balanced. Obviously with Ava (McSwain) and her career, a lot of teams are going to be focused on guarding her, but we had six players with at least seven points and that’s balance. When we’re scoring like that and attacking like that, we become an extremely hard team to guard.”
Deshler jumped out to an early lead but a basket from Ella Gossett and a pair of three-pointers from Lexi Marshall gave Good Hope an 8-6 lead later in the period. Jolee McHan scored through a foul and tacked on the free throw to make it 11-6 and Lucie Adams hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 13-6 with one minute remaining in the first quarter. Marshall added one more basket before the end of the first to put the Lady Raiders in front 15-9 at the start of the second.
Three-pointers from Adams and Ava McSwain made it a 21-13 game early in the second quarter and Sophie Konrad followed with a three of her own to make it 24-15. McSwain and Marshall scored off turnovers to add to the lead and Konrad scored the next five Raider points to extend the lead to 33-18 with less than three minutes to play in the first half. Adams scored the next four to make it a 37-21 game and after McSwain split a pair of free throws, Konrad sank a pair from the line in the finals seconds of the period to give Good Hope a 40-28 lead at halftime.
McSwain hit a turnaround jumper and a pair of free throws early in the third quarter to keep the Raiders ahead 44-33. Gossett and Konrad each drilled a pair from the line to maintain a 48-33 lead with two minutes to play in the third and McHan laid one in with just 15 seconds on the clock to make it a 50-35 game going into the fourth.
Baskets by McHan and McSwain kept Good Hope in front 54-37 early in the fourth quarter and after Gossett laid one in, Adams buried another three to make it 59-40. McSwain added a free throw and another jumper to give the Raiders a 17-point lead midway through the period and Gossett hit a pair of free throws to make it a 64-45 game. Marshall and Konrad wrapped things up at the free throw line in the final two minutes, securing a 70-50 win, back to back Northwest Regional Championships and a trip back to the Final Four.
Four players finished in double figures for Good Hope, led by McSwain and Konrad (seven rebounds) who each posted 15 points in the win. Marshall and Adams each added 12 points, Gossett finished with eight and McHan (seven rebounds) added seven.
Sophie Konrad and Lucie Adams both earned Northwest Regional All-Tournament honors and Ava McSwain was selected as Tournament MVP.
After four seniors from last year’s state championship squad graduated, this year’s team was eager to take on the challenge of defending the title.
“We lost four seniors off last year’s team and all of them are playing in college now and doing extremely well for themselves, but this group almost took it as a challenge,” Aby said. “They took it personal, and what people don’t understand is these are the same girls that went up against those seniors every single day at practice. They go to see some of the best players in the state last year and that did nothing but make them better for later on.”
Good Hope will face St. Michael Catholic in the 4A state semifinals in Birmingham next Tuesday at 3 p.m.
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