BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Good Hope Lady Raiders cruised past Dora and Deshler to win their second straight Northwest Regional title last week, but points were a little tougher to come by when they faced St. Michael Catholic in the 4A semifinals on Tuesday. Good Hope led by 12 at one point in the fourth quarter but had to withstand a late push from the Cardinals to earn a 38-30 win and advance to the 4A State Championship Game.
Good Hope Head Coach Justin Aby was proud of the way his team executed on the defensive end in the win, holding the Cardinals to just 30 points on 20.5% shooting but he knows the Raiders will have to come up with more on the offensive end if they want to take home a blue map later this week.
“It wasn’t the prettiest win for us, and I give St. Michael a lot of credit for that but this time of year it doesn’t have to be a pretty win its just all about advancing and at the end of the day we get to play for a state championship,” Aby said. “So, I’m proud of these ladies and the way they competed. We’ve battled a lot of adversity and I’m glad to see them overcome it today. Any time you hold a high school team to 30 points you’re doing your job on the defensive end. I don’t know if it was nerves or what but offensively, we weren’t the best today. It’s good to see when things are going hard on that end that you’re still bringing that defensive effort even when you can’t get shots to fall.”
The Raiders outrebounded St. Michael 43-33 in the win and dominating on the glass has been a point of emphasis for Aby and his staff this season.
“(Sophie) had 13 rebounds which is huge for an eighth grader. (Jolee) had 11 and Ava (McSwain) had nine, so several girls really competed on the boards,” Aby said. “Something we’ve noticed as a coaching staff is that we find ourselves winning the majority of our games when we win the rebounding battle so that’s been one of our goals.”
St. Michael jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game, but Sophie Konrad scored Good Hope’s first 5 points on the other end to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead. Ava McSwain’s first three-pointer of the night made it an 8-4 game later in the period and her next three put Good Hope in front 11-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Baskets by Lexi Marshall and Jolee McHan extended the Raider lead to 15-8 midway through the second quarter. Lucie Adams sank a pair of free throws to make it a 17-11 game with 39 seconds remaining in the half and McSwain tipped one in with just 4 seconds on the clock to send Good Hope to the locker room with a 19-14 lead at the break.
Konrad scored through a foul and tacked on the free throw to put the Raiders ahead 22-16 early in the third quarter. McSwain laid one in and Konrad scored another basket inside to make it 26-16 and later in the period, McSwain knocked down another three to give Good Hope a 29-18 advantage.
The Cardinals were able to trim the lead to 29-22 by the end of the third quarter but a three from Konrad kept the Raiders in front 32-22 early in the fourth. McHan laid one in to make it a 34-22 game, but St. Michael battled back to cut the lead to 34-30 with just over two minutes remaining. However, Good Hope tightened up on the defensive end and McHan and Konrad each buried a pair of free throws in the final minute of the game to secure a 38-30 win and a spot in the 4A state finals.
Konrad posted a game-high 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win. McSwain added 13 points and nine rebounds and McHan finished with six points and 11 boards.
With so much production missing from last year’s state title team, some may have been skeptical about this Raider team’s ability to compete for another championship, but they have continued to prove the doubters wrong with each win they collect this postseason.
“Last year we graduated four senior starters, but a lot of these other girls are the ones that competed against those seniors. They made sure to work them every day at practice to try and push each other and get better so that really benefited them as well,” Aby said. “They do kind of play with a chip on their shoulder. At the beginning of the year, there were a lot of people that might’ve said this team couldn’t put themselves in this spot to compete for a championship, but they found a way and now they’ll be playing for a state championship on Friday.”
One of this year’s seniors, Jolee McHan, wasn’t able to play during last year’s championship run due to an injury. McHan still enjoyed her experience last season but admits she’s having even more fun being on the court this time around.
“It feels great. I’m very happy to be back, especially playing here since I didn’t get to last year,” McHan said. “Even though I didn’t get to play last year it was still a great experience. I still had a lot of fun but it’s just different getting to be out on the floor and play with these girls.”
The Lady Raiders will be back on the court at Legacy Arena Friday at 4 p.m. to play the winner of Plainview and Trinity Presbyterian in the 4A Girls State Championship Game.
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