Lady Warriors ready for state tournament
Senior Grace McNabb missed eight games early in West Side Christian’s basketball season. It’s not a coincidence the Lady Warriors have won 12 of their last 14 games since she returned to the court.
West Side will take a 13-9 record and a top regional seed into next week’s Heartland Christian Athletic Association 2A State Tournament. The Lady Warriors take on Immanuel Lutheran out of Broken Arrow, Okla., Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
The tournament will be hosted by Union Christian in Fort Smith.
“We’ve definitely played our best basketball lately. We’re finding ourselves a little bit,” said West Side coach Randall Miller. “Defensively, we’ve been playing really well for a while. Offensively, it looks like we’re starting to play much better. Last couple of games we’ve been efficient against the zone. And then when they’ve gone man, we’ve been able to get some driving lanes for our guards.”
McNabb, a 5-11 forward, leads the Lady Warriors in scoring for the second year in a row at 11 points per game.
“She’s rounding into form. She’s able to play the minutes we need her to now,” said Miller, who said McNabb has added length on the defensive end. “She adds a lot to it defensively and on the boards. She’s quick and anticipates well.”
While McNabb’s injury affected West Side’s slow start, three new players also had to learn to jell together. Freshmen Carley Bain and Camille McKnight and transfer post Jenna McAdams were all new to the lineup.
“They’ve played together for a while now so they’re looking for each other. We do a lot of stuff that’s based on reads. I think a lot of times, especially when younger players are learning something, they get used to throwing it to places and you don’t get used to reading when a defense might over-shift or jump to take something away,” said Miller. “So, we’ve had struggles
with that, especially early in the year when we were throwing passes away because we were throwing it to where we thought it was supposed to go next instead of reading it. Now we're starting to read it and break down the zone pretty well.
“Our point guard is improving. Carley Bain, a freshman, is handling that. We rushed her into it due to injuries. This last game was definitely her best one, seeing people ahead, seeing people in the half court. There were a couple times they broke down just for a second in man and she saw the gap and took it right away. She's really playing confidently, right now. That's helped us offensively.”
Miller said McAdams has also gotten into a groove in the post, shooting approximately 70 percent from the field in the past couple of games. Victoria Colley, a returning starter, and Carson Bain, another returner from last year, have also stepped up their games down the stretch.
“Offensively, we're moving it well,” said Miller. “I think we had four people with three or more assists last game. Most of our stuff is coming off passes instead of isolation-type stuff.”
As for the state tournament, with the way the team has played lately, Miller believes the Lady Warriors have as good of a shot as any.
“I think it's wide open in girls,” he said. “There's a couple of teams from the Oklahoma side I have not seen. It's hard to measure that. I'm supposed to have some film coming on them soon. With the Arkansas teams, everybody that's on our side that we have played, we have either split with or beaten outright a couple of times. So, we feel we are capable. I definitely feel like if we're playing well offensively, finishing around the rim and making free throws, we've got as good a shot as anybody.”
West Side's balanced offense includes McKnight scoring 10 points per game and McAdams adding nine per night. The Lady Warriors feel fully loaded for the state tournament.
“They seem really locked in. Grace has had an effect on them,” Miller said. “I don't know if the word is calming but I definitely think it's leveled us out. She definitely plays with a ton of energy.”