AC Flora Girls Focused on Press and Finishing Strong
By WORTHY EVANS
The A.C. Flora girls basketball team suffered a setback in their drive to go one game better than last year’s 4A upper-state championship game appearance. The Falcons lost 45-43 to region leader Ridge View Jan. 23 and are now one game behind the Blazers in the standings.
The best way to bounce back, head coach Jacob Thompson figured, was to shake off the loss and focus on playing the team that beat them for the upper state title—Westwood on Friday Jan. 26.
The young Redhawks, who lost their first region game in three years when they lost 66-63 at A.C. Flora Jan. 5, rallied in the second quarter to tie the game at 22 by halftime. The Falcons (16-6, 5-1) unleashed a steady surge of offense and defense throughout the second half and closed out a 55-40 victory.
“Tonight was step one. Tuesday we lost a tough one. We had a lead, gave up a basket late—she hit a shot and I’m not mad about that, but we had to come back and focus, and we knew what was coming (Westwood)” Thompson said, noting Westwood’s prowess under head coach Gregory Bauldrick. “It was going to be tough—that’s a good team, great program, great coach, so you knew what you were getting which is awesome on a Friday night.”
Senior Terriana Gray had 20 points and sophomores Tamira Delaney and Skylar McClary both had 10 points in the win over the Redhawks. The winning formula is what his team did in the second half: press, and attack the basket.
“This is what we talked about at halftime, stay in our press. Stay aggressive, stay aggressive, stay aggressive,” he said. “We challenged a couple of them … to go and be aggressive—I think people hear the word aggressive and they think we want you to take each and every shot. It’s getting downhill. Our goal is downhill all night long. We try to put pressure on the other team to stop it. We just stayed there and continued to battle. The seven that we played tonight really gave us everything they got.”
The Falcons look to keep on pressing through their next three games, Richland Northeast Jan. 30, Irmo Feb. 2, and Lugoff-Elgin Feb. 6. Should A.C. Flora win those games, they will play Ridge View again, this time at home, for the region championship in the regular season finale.
“We’ve got to take care of business,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we do what we’re supposed to do with the next three and set up a big game with Ridge View. That’s going to be for the region title, one way or another, and then we’re getting ready for the playoffs.”
Gray averages 18.2 points, 3.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game to lead the Falcons. McCray averages 10.7 points. Junior Madison Mickens averages 8.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.3 steals per game.
Mickens rolled her ankle at Ridge View and was out of the lineup Friday night.
“We got good news today, nothing’s broken, just a sprain,” Thompson said. “So hopefully we get her back in a week or two right before the playoffs.”
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