Lady Dawgs win easily
- Updated: February 19, 2016
Simple formula gets Anniston through: Bullock in the first, Cooley in the second, defense always
Miajah Bullock (3), Raven Cooley (4) and the defense Anniston played were the catalysts for a one-sided Northeast Regional victory Friday. On the cover, coach Eddie Bullock congratulates Cooley after a big second half. (Photos by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — The formula for Anniston’s regional win Friday morning was a simple one.
Miajah Bullock in the first half. Raven Cooley in the second half. Defense every half.
The Lady Bulldogs opened their quest for a return trip to the Class 5A Final Four with a 52-26 victory over Boaz in the Northeast Regional semfinals at Jacksonville State. They will play Madison County for the region championship Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.
Bullock continued her tear through the second half of the season with 15 points; she had 14 in the first half as Anniston opened a 25-10 lead. Cooley had 19 points, 15 in the second half as the Lady Dawgs (19-6) continued to pour it on.
They were both 7-of-18 from the field. Bullock was 7-of-13 in the first half; Cooley was 6-for-11 in the second. Bullock also had six rebounds and three assists.
“From the bottom of my heart I don’t think there’s a better guard combination in the state of Alabama than these two girls right here,” Anniston coach Eddie Bullock said. “They both do different things, but my major task is getting them to understand what their gift is and how to use it.
“Raven is a great shooter. When she does not rush her shot, it’s good as gold; it’s going to fall. Miajah can shoot the 3, but she’s a better penetrator and when she goes to the bucket nobody can stop her. She has to learn to penetrate the gap and when she goes full speed and doesn’t think about it, we’re unstoppable. She carried us the first half because they couldn’t keep out of the paint.”
The whole plan was predicated on defense and even though there were some elements of it late in the game that rankled the coach, for the most part it was pretty good. The Lady Dawgs forced Boaz into 24 turnovers, off which they scored 22 points.
Capitalizing on the turnovers is the big thing. In the eight semifinal games Thursday, the winning teams combined for 142 points off the turnovers they created; the losing team scored only 71.
“That’s a major key to being successful,” coach Bullock said. “I talk to them all the time that it’s no good to force the turnover and then turn it back over to them. We have a bad habit of doing that … and those can be backbreakers when you do that. The turnover was useless.”
There’s no disputing Miajah Bullock is on a roll. In the 12 games since being slowed by an ankle injury and held to nine points against St. Clair County, Bullock has scored 216 points that included all three of her triple-doubles.
“My uncle (Bullock) tells me when I get to the cup (basket) and I don’t think about it nobody can stop me,” Miajah said. “Basically, I just kept getting to the cup rather than taking jump shots.”
Cooley was frustrated by a box-and-one in the first half, but the Lady Pirates (20-9) tired chasing her and she capitalized in the second half. She was 1-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half and finished 4-for-10.
“In the first half I did rush a lot of things,” Cooley said. “They were in a box-and-one and like coach was saying we were focusing more on offense rather than defense. Honestly, defense wins championships and I realized that in the second half, so I was like whatever comes open I’ll take that and if it doesn’t I’ll just get it back on defense.”
Anniston 52, Boaz 26
BOAZ (20-9) – Shayla Carroll 4-9 0-0 8, Kaitlyn Gillilan 1-8 0-0 2, Katie Ratcliff 1-4 0-2 2, Autumn Patterson 1-4 0-2 2, Baylee Alldredge 1-9 0-0 2, Sara Herman 0-0 0-0 0, Jericha Lybrand 0-1 2-2 2, Jericka Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Jayden Bobo 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Hunkeapillar 1-1 3-4 5, Sarah Clontz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-37 5-10 26.
ANNISTON (19-6) – Miajah Bullock 7-18 1-3 15, Raven Cooley 7-18 1-2 19, Davia Palmer 3-8 3-4 9, Carsheuna Curry 3-5 1-2 7, J’Kyra Clemons 1-2 0-0 2, Carina Welch 0-0 0-0 0, Kendra Finley 0-1 0-2 0, Jemya Bullock 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 6-13 52.
Boaz 8 2 9 7 — 26
Anniston 9 16 18 9 — 52
3-point goals: Boaz 1-15 (Carroll 0-4, Gillilan 1-5, Patterson 0-2, Alldredge 0-2, Lybrand 0-1, Smith 0-1); Anniston 4-11 (Cooley 4-10, Palmer 0-1). Rebounds: Boaz 30 (Alldredge 8); Anniston 34 (Palmer 7, Bullock 6, Clemons 6). Total fouls: Boaz 10, Anniston 7. Officials: Bill Young, Hunter Allen, Faye Wilson.
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