Dynasty in the making? OCA girls win second straight SCAA crown
A program that struggled for victories just a handful of years ago now sits on the preface of what could be a dynasty in the Southern Christian Athletic Association.
The Oakwood Christian Lady Eagles, who came into last week’s SCAA tournament in Rossville as the No. 1 overall seed, added a second consecutive SCAA tournament championship to go with their SCAA regular season championship on Saturday night with a 46-19 victory over Rhea County Academy in front of a big crowd of the Rossville Athletic Center.
It marked OCA’s third consecutive appearance in the finals.
“It feels great,” head coach Kraig Givens said. “The girls even asked me what it was like winning it as a coach and I told them that I felt like I had prepared them, which made me feel successful. You go the whole year getting them to that point, but they are the ones actually playing and putting in all the hard work, sweat and tears. Watching them realize and see that it was all worth it is a pretty big deal to me.”
Oakwood, who defeated RCA twice this season by an average of 27 points, took an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game and was never threatened. The Lady Eagles led 11-4 after the first quarter and used an 11-2 run in the second quarter to build a 26-10 lead at the break.
Tight defense by the Lady Eagles did not allow the Lady Warriors to score a single point for the first 4:30 of the third quarter and a 3-pointer by Oakwood’s lone senior, Mary Ownby, helped give the Lady Eagles an insurmountable 42-13 advantage going into the final period.
Lily Green had 12 points on the night and Ownby finished with 11 as they both went on to garner All-Tournament Team honors. Avery Green had nine points, followed by seven off the bench from McKenley Baggett. Grayson Broadrick added five points and Anslee Tucker finished with two.
With Oakwood losing just the one senior for next year, Givens said he is excited about the future of the program as Lady Eagles will be in search of a third straight SCAA tournament championship and a fourth straight SCAA tournament championship game appearance.
“The girls are excited because they see it,” he added. “They’re all very confident in their abilities and that’s not something we’ve
had in the past. They’re playing like they know that they’re pretty good out there. We played some tougher teams this season and had some opportunities to kind of show the community that we can play. Now we have the opportunity to build on that, which is awesome.”
Oakwood girls 46, Calvary Christian 0
The Navy-and-Gold completely dominated fourth-seeded Calvary Christian in the tournament opener at the Rossville Athletic Center last Monday.
Avery Green had 15 points and three steals for OCA. Raleigh Suits added nine points, while Lily Green had six points and a team-high seven rebounds. Broadrick also added six points. Tucker finished with four points, while Ownby, Baggett and Lexie Asher all chipped in with two.