Ohatchee cuts the nets
- Updated: February 11, 2021
Lady Indians use a big run in first half, stand down the stretch to beat Piedmont for first area title since 2008
| Thursday’s girls scores | Cross area |
| Class 1A: Winterboro 48, TCC 44 | Notasulga at Loachapoka (Fri.) |
| Class 3A: Ohatchee 47, Piedmont 39 | Saks at Childersburg (Sat.) |
| 3A: Collinsville 47, Hokes Bluff 21 | Plainview 63, Sylvania 52 |
| Class 5A: Alexandria 63, Lincoln 31 | Ramsay at Carver (Fri.) |
| Class 6A: Oxford 47, Pell City 42 | Huffman 66, Shades Valley 20 |
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE — Bryant Ginn was as nervous all day as he’s ever been before a game. His Ohatchee girls basketball team was favored to win its first area tournament in more than a decade, but that made the tension that coursed through his body even worse.
His fears were realized early-on. The Lady Indians fell behind out of the gate, but they used an early Piedmont timeout to settle down and when they returned to the floor they were a different team.
They went on a 16-point run over the next eight minutes to take control of a game they won 47-39 for their first Class 3A Area 11 title since 2008, the last in a run of four in a row.
The Lady Indians (19-6) will host the loser of Saturday’s Area 9 title game between Saks and Childersburg in the 3A sub regionals. Piedmont (11-13) will travel to the Area 9 champion.
“I’m the most happy for kids like Gracyn (Snow), Jorda (Crook), Tori (Vice) and Gracie George; they’ve been playing since their seventh-grade year,” Ginn said. “We’ve been on the other end of some running clocks and for them to finally accomplish getting an area championship I’m so happy for them. I think that’s what made me the most nervous because I wanted it for them because I wanted them to experience it because they deserved it. They’re a great team, they deserved that.”
“This means more to me than anything,” senior guard Tori Vice said.
“This is amazing,” added post Jorda Crook. “This is something to live for. We’re going to remember it every year from now on.”
The night didn’t start well for Ohatchee. Piedmont jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind some hot shooting by Ava Pope, but coach Terrace Ridley soon saw something she didn’t like and called time. It was the pause that changed the game.
As much as the timeout was intended to help Piedmont, Ohatchee used it to settle down. The Lady Indians returned to the floor and went on their big run to take control.
It was actually part of an 18-0 run since the Lady Indians scored a basket right before that fateful timeout.
“I was about to (call a timeout), but you think in a close game you want to save them for the end because you never know if a situation right like will arise,” Ginn said. “When she called it, I thought it was a chance to regroup and we got into our press. We said we were going to do it but we had to get either a time out or we had to make a basket to start it up.
“Our girls just played tough. I was hoping the first quarter wouldn’t have started the way it did because I didn’t want our confidence to get down. As big a game as I felt it was, I know they did, too. I was trying not to act nervous around them, but I’m sure it didn’t work.”
LeLe Ridley ended the drought with 4:28 left in the first half and the Lady Bulldogs made a modest run to tighten the margin but the gap was too wide to overcome.
Nobody was more nervous down the stretch than Ohatchee team mom Beverly Wright. She baked and decorated a cake in anticipation of the event and was worried she’d have to leave the cake out in the overnight rain.
Piedmont put in the press in the fourth quarter that was so effective against Weaver in the semifinals and it produced an 11-0 run that got it within three (41-38) with 3:26 to play. Pope and Z’Hayla Walker had four points apiece in the run.
Pope finished with 12 points. LeLe Ridley led Piedmont with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
“I’ve got some girls who don’t ever let up,” Piedmont coach Terrace Ridley said. “They stay in it, they stay focused and this is a really, really good team to try to press. We thought when we got it in we may be in trouble, but we knew if we just stayed focused and played hard on the press like we did against Weaver we could create some turnovers – and we did do that.”
And then it was Ginn’s turn to call a game-changing timeout. He did it to settle his team down again. The Lady Indians came back out and held on down the stretch with Vice making free throws and Crook rebounding the misses.
Crook led the Lady Indians with a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds. Vice had 13 points.
“We were all stressed out for a minute,” guard Millie Rainwater said, “but Coach Ginn told us to calm down and take it slow and we did it.”
Class 3A Area 11 Girls
Championship Game
Ohatchee 47, Piedmont 39
PIEDMONT (11-13) – Ava Pope 5 0-0 12, Jaycee Glover 0 0-0 0, LeLe Ridley 6 1-2 14, Armoni Perry 1 1-2 3, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 3 1-2 7, Emily Farmer 1 0-2 3. Totals 16 3-8 39.
OHATCHEE (19-6) – Gracyn Snow 1 0-0 2, Rachel Dunaway 0 0-0 0, Tori Vice 5 3-6 13, Whitney McFry 0 0-0 0, Gracie George 2 1-2 5, Millie Rainwater 0 2-4 2, Jorda Crook 9 3-4 21, Alyssa Davis 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 9-14 47.
Piedmont 7 9 11 12 – 39
Ohatchee 15 10 14 8 – 47
3-point goals: Piedmont 4 (Pope 2, Ridley, Farmer). Total fouls: Piedmont 15, Ohatchee 12. Officials: Starr, Childs, Avery.
All-Tournament Team: Haley Homesley, Weaver; Macey Roper, Pleasant Valley; LeLe Ridley, Piedmont; Jorda Crook, Ohatchee; Ava Pope, Piedmont; Millie Rainwater, Ohatchee; Emily Farmer, Piedmont; Gracie George, Ohatchee; Tori Vice, Ohatchee.
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