Parkers Chapel, Fordyce set to meet at district tournament
Parkers Chapel will have to beat Fordyce in Fordyce if the Lady Trojans hope to keep their basketball season alive. The Lady Bugs will host PC Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the 2A-8 District Tournament.
Parkers Chapel brings a 12-15 overall record, including 7-9 in conference. Fordyce finished the regular season at 8-19, 5-11.
PC coach Justin Welch, whose team is the higher seed, knows the hurdle is a little higher for his club.
“Obviously, going into the district tournament, the last thing you want to do is play the host team, no matter what the seeding is. In basketball, home court advantage is a huge deal,” said Welch. “But, it’s one of those things where it’s a challenge. As a coach, you want your players to step up and accept the challenge. Sometimes, you have to go through some solid teams in order to prove you deserve to continue your season.”
The Lady Trojans will have to win twice this week to qualify for state. But first, they have to focus on the Lady Bugs, who won both of the regular-season meetings.
Fordyce prevailed 35-33 on Dec. 7 and 48-43 on Jan. 22. Welch said turnovers were a factor in the first game. That’s been a factor in most of the Lady Trojans’ struggles this season. Desire, however, has not been an issue.
“With this group, they really want it. They want to play well. The desire is there. We just have to go out there and execute the game plan and take care of the basketball,” said Welch. “Throughout the course of the season, if you summed up our season, it’s too many turn-
overs. We’re working on trying to clean up the game.
“I know they want it. I’m not worried about that. This group is hungry. That’s what makes it fun to coach them. They want this season to continue. You won’t see a group that’s going through the motions. You’ll see girls playing as hard as they can. That’s all I can ask them to do.”
As far as the match-up, Welch said the Lady Bugs pose a problem.
“They have two really solid basketball players. Throughout the course of the year, they only had six players. But, I’m assuming he’s going to be moving up some freshmen from his junior high team that just won the district. I don’t know how many of those he’s going to pull up. But, it’s going to give them some depth and probably more confidence,” he said.
“The two primary players are a really tough match for us. He’s got a couple girls who just know the game of basketball and have shot the ball really well. I think if we play good fundamental defense and shoot the ball well, we’ll have a chance to win the ball game. We’re not seeing this as our last ball game by any means.”
The Lady Trojans feature a young squad with three sophomores playing major roles. For them, this will be their first postseason experience.
“I’m excited to see how it goes,” Welch said. “I think every year when district tournament rolls around, it gives everybody a spark. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. Let it play out on the court.”