Lady Phoenix off to unbeaten Region start
Sonoraville girls were at Northwest Whitfield Tuesday in battle for first place
By the time you read this, the Sonoraville girls basketball team could be in first place in Region 7-4A — all by themselves.
With two more easy wins last week in the league, head coach Stephanie Caudell’s team is off to a 3-0 start and that set up a clash Tuesday night at Northwest Whitfield County with the also still-unbeaten-in-the-Region Lady Bruins, who were also 3-0.
Heritage is a game off the pace, sitting third in the Region at 2-1 and the Lady Phoenix will host the Generals Friday night so this is a big week for Sonoraville and a couple of wins could have everyone else looking up at them in the standings by the weekend.
For the Phoenix last week, they allowed just 34 points total in one-sided 7-4A wins over Central in Carrollton last Tuesday night and then Cedartown Friday evening.
They beat Central 62-19 and didn’t give up a point in the fourth quarter. Then on Friday, they shutout the Lady Bulldogs in the first quarter and cruised to a 67-15 triumph.
In the win over Central, the Lady Lions were actually in the game at halftime, down by just 10, but they would score just three points in the second half as Sonoraville pulled away.
The Phoenix took an 11-5 at the end of the first period and then outscored the Lady Lions, 15-11 in the second for a 26-16 advantage at the break.
But from there it was no contest as they busted the game open in the third, topping Central, 16-3, for a 41-14 gap to start the fourth period and Caudell began to clear her bench.
And the reserves were more than solid, outscoring Central, 20 to nothing in the last eight minutes to win via a rout.
They kept that defensive intensity flowing into Friday night when they shut out Cedartown in the first quarter while scoring 33 points to put the teams in garbage time very early.
They would not allow double-digits in any quarter defensively with Cedartown
notching four points in the second, nine in the third, and then a basket for two in the fourth.
In that 33-point first quarter, the Phoenix made 12 baskets, two three’s and
three more free throws and from there, would go on to a 48-4 halftime lead.
Six different players contributed those 33 points with sophomore guard Ella Kate Walraven having nine in the period on two two’s, a trey, and two foul shots.
Junior guard Brynley Walraven had eight more on four baskets and senior guard Kayleigh Kelley had six points on three makes. Sophomore forward
Erin Garland rounded things out with five more on a basket and one from downtown.
They had 15 more in the second period with seven different players scoring in that quarter.
The Lady Phoenix would go on to lead 64-13 to begin the final period.
The Sonoraville girls now stand a most impressive 16-2 on the year.