Lady Phoenix extend stretch to 7 straight
Perhaps Mother Nature is the only thing that can slow down the Sonoraville High School girls basketball team.
In a tale of what has become two seasons, the Lady Phoenix entered this week with a seven-game win streak with a perfect 3-0 record in Region 7-4A and a first-place tie with Heritage, which also began league activity with three straight wins as the two teams squared off Friday night in Ringgold. (Details of that game were not available at press time).
The Phoenix went into the week looking for their eighth straight conquest and fourth consecutive in Region play Tuesday after they began the year with 11 losses, but their home game against Northwest Whitfield was postponed due to bad weather that closed school and the game was moved to today, 4 p.m., Saturday still at The Furnace.
That mean in less than 24 hours time, including Friday night, the Phoenix had to play the two teams that are right there with them atop the Region with Heritage 3-0 in the league and Northwest Whitfield 2-1 in the circuit.
The big thing that has head coach Stephanie Caudell’s team in first place going into this weekend has been the defense with the Phoenix having allowed just 76 points total in their first three 7-4A games.
In fact, heading into their contest against Heritage, the team had not allowed more than 34 points in any of its past five games (all wins) and three teams got that many against Sonoraville, but still lost by double digits.
They remained perfect in league play last week with first a 57-34 victory over Carrollton Central Tuesday night before wrapping up the week Friday with a 58-21 win at Cedartown. That victory not only made them 3-0 in league but it also meant they won their first three Region games by an average of 34 points because they were also clicking at the offensive end, having scored over 50 points in each of their 7-4A games.
In the win over Central, the Lady Phoenix were consistent at both ends, holding the visiting team to no more than nine points in a quarter while they scored 10 or more in all four.
They got out to a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and then held Central to eight more in the second while they threw in 17 to double up the Lady Lions, 32-16 at the half.
Central would then score nine points in the third period and nine more in the fourth but it would not be nearly enough with the Phoenix putting together a 25-point second half.
Then Friday night, their pressure defense had Cedartown throwing the ball around the gym a bit as a lot of different players helped them build their lead while the home team would not notch more than seven points in a single quarter.
Thanks to a couple of steals and layups, the Phoenix roared to a 6-2 lead in the first minutes of the game en route to leading 15-7 at the end of one period.
The Lady Phoenix had the
first bucket of the second period to take their first 10-point lead at 17-7 and senior shooting guard Jovanna Sicairos nailed a long three to put them up 20-7.
The home team took their first 17-point lead at 26-9 on an Ella Kate Walraven layup off a steal and would hold that same point differential at halftime by a 30-13 count.
They would put the game away for good in the third period, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 20-2 to lead 50-15 to go into the fourth period.
The Lady Phoenix took their first 20-point lead at 34-13 on another Walraven layup off a
steal and their first 30-point bulge came at 45-15 with just over a couple minutes left in the third.
In the fourth, junior guards Erin Garland and Tatum Scott each hit three’s as the winners would outscore Cedartown 8-6 in the period with Caudell using a lot of reserves at the end.
Going into this weekend when everybody in the Region had at least one game to make up because of the cold weather, Sonoraville and Heritage were deadlocked in first and Northwest Whitfield was alone in third place at 2-1 and the Lady Bruins were the
last team in the 7-4A above the break-even point.
All three teams have been outstanding at the defensive end in the early going with none of them having allowed 100 points in the first three games. While Sonoraville’s 76 given up is most impressive, so is Northwest Whitfield’s having allowed only 78 and Heritage’s given up 97.
After that trio, Central was in fourth place in the Region at 1-2 and Southeast Whitfield
and Cedartown were both winless at 0-3.
After the games this weekend that put them at the midway point of Region 7-4A season, the Lady Phoenix will open the second part Tuesday night with a trip to Southeast Whitfield and then Friday evening, they remain on the road when they play at Carrollton Central.
The Lady Phoenix are 7-11 overall heading into this weekend.