Story By Heath Hambrick
It's back-to-back area championships for the Ider Lady Hornets as they defeated the Skyline Lady Vikings 63-32 Tuesday night in the Class 1A Area 16 championship game.
Ider led at the end of every quarter (19-9, 33-19, 49-27, 63-32).
The opening three minutes of the contest saw the two teams trade baskets on the game's first four possessions. Then, with the score tied at 4-4, Makinley Traylor hit back-to-back threes to give Ider a 10-4 lead. Skyline responded and cut the lead to two points before the Lady Hornets went on a 9-0 run to grab a 19-8 lead late in the quarter. The Ider defense forced turnovers, and Kennzie Smith turned those turnovers into points to spark the 9-0 run.
The Lady Hornets started the second quarter on an 8-0 run thanks to back-to-back three pointers from Smith and Hayley Kilgore to extend the lead to 18 points, 27-19. Ider picked up 13 pounds in the second quarter, with most coming on the defensive end. Skyline used second points to cut into the Ider lead, but they could only manage to get within 14 points before halftime.
In the third quarter, Heaven Posey found the bottom of the basket for the first time, and Traylor just kept scoring, adding 11 more to her total. The Lady Hornets took a 22-point lead into the final quarter.
Brynley Traylor finally found the bottom of the net with a three-point basket to open the final quarter. Traylor also led the team with nine rebounds in the game. After Traylor made a layup to extend the lead to 31 points and with 3:23 to go in the fourth, Ider Head Coach took his starters out to allow the younger group some playing time.
The Lady Hornets captured consecutive area championships for the first time since 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The victory also means that Ider will play one more home game this weekend against Coosa Christian in the Northeast sub-regional. The date and time have not been set at this time.
Makinley Traylor led Ider with 30 points, and Kennzie Smith scored 13 points.
Ider improves to 22-7 on the season.
1A Area 16 Tournament semifinals held on Saturday, February 7th.
Saturday night in the Class 1A Area 16 Tournament at Ider High School, it was the Traylor show that led the Ider Lady Hornets to an 85-22 victory over the Valley Head Lady Tigers.
Ider led at the end of every quarter (28-6, 56-11, 72-22, 85-22).
In the first quarter, Ider surged to a 12-0 lead, driven by the shooting prowess of Makinley and Brynley Traylor, along with the aggressive defense and rebounding of the Lady Hornets.
Ider forced five steals and had 14 rebounds in the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter, Ider had built a 28-6 lead. Makinley Traylor accounted for 13 points, and Brynley Traylor had eight points. All of Valley Head's points came from the free throw line.
In the second quarter, the Lady Hornets started the quarter with a 19-0 run that included five straight three’s from Makinley Traylor (3) and Brynley Traylor (2) and a basket from Heaven Posey to give Ider a 47-6 lead.
Valley Head ended the run with a three from Sydney Ingram. The Lady Hornets finished the quarter with baskets from Makenna Wilborn, Bailey Ware, and a corner three from Addisyn Heard to take a 45-point halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Ider outscored Valley Head 16-11. Paris Davis ended the third quarter with a three-pointer from the top of the key for her first-ever points in a varsity game.
Emma Hayes, Jane Brown, and Araya Dye all scored in the final quarter for Ider. Also, scoring in the fourth quarter was senior Cambree Chapman. Chapman drove to the basket for a layup but was fouled and went to the free-throw line for two shots. Chapman made both to score her first two points since before Thanksgiving, as she was sidelined because of a broken leg she suffered in a car accident Thanksgiving week.
The Traylor cousins were the top scorers for Ider: Makinley with 27 points and Brynley with 16 points.
Valley Head finishes the season with a record of 8-14.
