Story John Mann
BIRMINGHAM — The Guntersville Lady Wildcats basketball team found themselves in trouble more than once on Saturday morning as they faced off with the Moody Blue Devils for the 5A State Championship, but they were able stay strong and fight their way to a tense 68-62 win and lay claim to the title.
“They came out and punched us right in the mouth,” Wildcats head coach Kelly Robinson said. “The girls were a bit shell shocked; they had to make some adjustments. Obviously we knew Serenity (Rutledge) was good but we were letting her get too deep in the basket and we had to adjust to that in the second half, step up and help sooner.”
Moody came out swinging in the first quarter, running up an 8-0 lead on the Wildcats before Kenna’D Buie was able to get them on the board. The Blue Devils would continue to dominate in the first quarter, getting eleven points over the Wildcats at one point. With less than two minutes remaining in the quarter the Wildcats finally began to put a rally together, with Addison Reese Hammond hitting a basket and a three along with Bristol Cook hitting a basket as well. When the first quarter finally ended the score was 18-12 Moody.
Scoring for both teams hit a stall at the start of the second quarter. For the first two and a half minutes the only point recorded was a free throw by Buie, but a three by Moody broke the stalemate and an offensive battle began. She’Londa Wellington was able to hit a basket and free throw but Moody continued to pile on pressure with two more threes and four free throws, making it a 35-21 game late in the quarter. The Wildcats were able to close up the gap once again in the closing minutes of the quarter, with Mya Fennell hitting a three and Buie scoring two baskets. At the half they had closed Moody’s lead to just six points on a score of 37-31.
As was the case in Wednesday’s semifinal round Buie was the offensive leader for the Wildcats, scoring nineteen points, but Buie was only one of four Wildcats to break double digits on scoring alongside Fennell (13), Hammond (14) and Cook (12). Fennell in particular was perfect on offense, hitting every shot she took for three baskets, three threes and four free throws. Buie and Cook stayed off the three point line almost entirely and chose to shoot up close, where they each hit six of ten baskets. The current Wildcats starting lineup is one of extremes when it comes to ages, with a mix of seniors and freshmen along with an eighth grader in Buie.
“Over the last two years the growth in our senior class has been phenomenal,” Robinson said. “And we’ve got eighth graders who took it on the chin last year and kind of got bullied a lot and pushed around a lot, they got in the gym in the off season and that’s the reason we’re sitting here today.”
The Wildcats finally began asserting control of the game in the second half, taking their first lead of the night at the start of the third quarter with a run that included a three by Hammond and two baskets by Cook. Moody was able to tie things back up at 40-40 and retake the lead, but a basket and free throw by Buie was enough to take it right back on a score of 43-42. The second half of the third quarter was all Wildcats, holding Moody to only free throws as Fennell hit another three, Wellington scoring a basket and Cook making two baskets to send the game into its final stretch with the score at 52-47 Wildcats.
With only eight minutes left in the entire season Moody made one last offensive push at the Wildcats to try and retake the lead. They hit a three to make it a four point game at 56-52, but the Wildcats were able to push away with a basket and two free throws by Buie and two free throws by Hammond. Even leading 64-58 with less than two minutes left didn’t mean the Wildcats were out of the woods though as Moody hit four straight free throws to make it 64-62, with Hammond fouling out in the process. Fennell would be the saving grace, coming in to hit a pair of free throws to stretch the Wildcat lead to four with just twenty-eight seconds on the clock. It was all the breathing room the Wildcats needed to ride out the rest of the game and take the state championship 68-62.
“They (our seniors) made big plays,” Robinson said. “Sophie Porch defensively all year took on their best players so these two (Hammond and Buie) didn’t have to, we don’t want to waste our offense legs guarding their best player if we can help it and get into foul trouble. Mya (Fennell) came in this year, handled the ball, played inside everything she could do, she did. And She’Londa (Wellington) about midway through the year just got an opportunity to stay on the floor a little bit longer and really took advantage of it and the last six weeks of the season she’s just been great for us. So all three of those seniors deserve a lot of credit for this victory, we wouldn’t be winning it without them.”
The win wraps up an amazing season for the Wildcats, who finish with a record of 33-4 and graduate three seniors in She’Londa Wellington, Mya Fennell and Sophie Porch. During the awards presentation at the tournament it was announced that Hammond, Cook and Buie were all three selected to be part of the All-Tournament Team, and that Buie was the pick for Tournament MVP.
“It feels amazing,” Buie said. “It feels really good and all glory to God. All our hard work all through this year and over many years is paying off. I’m just really glad I got to come here with this team and that I got to play with the seniors too. I’m ready for the next four years.”
The Guntersville Lady Wildcats will return to the court next season.
