Lady Wildcats ready for rematch
HOT SPRINGS – El Dorado had to fight to get to the girls semifinals of the 6A State Tournament. The Lady Wildcats’ 39-28 win over Jonesboro on Thursday was like something out of the UFC.
Today, El Dorado steps back into the octagon when it takes on Sheridan at noon at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy. At stake is a trip to the state championship game.
El Dorado lost to Sheridan two weeks ago in the conference semifinals, 57-34, in Sheridan.
“It’s a rematch. It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be tough,” said El Dorado coach Destinee Rogers. “But, we’re going to go in there with a game plan. We’re going to have some fight in us. If you can’t get up for this game, there’s something wrong. I know my kids will be ready. I know they’re excited. I feel like it’s going to be a battle. It may go down to the wire. They have a really good team. They’re really disciplined. They’ve got a good coach. We just have to be smart, play disciplined basketball, play good defense and do the little things and we’ll give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Lady Yellowjackets, who boast a 22-6 record, have won 13 of their last 14 games, including six in a row. Their last loss was in double overtime at Watson Chapel. Sheridan beat West Memphis 50-42 on Thursday.
The Lady Yellowjackets feature 6-1 senior post Madison Ramey and sophomore Diamond Morris, an athletic 5-9 forward.
“They both concern me. They’re really good players,” said Rogers. “We have to try to limit their touches, limit their points. We’re going to key in on them but we also don’t need to just key in on them and let role players knock down shots. We just have to be solid on defense and execute the game plan. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a really good chance.”
Even though the teams met recently, Rogers isn’t sure what to expect.
“In the past, they’ve played us a match-up zone,” she said. “Who knows what they’re going to do? They’re probably going to throw something different at us. We’ll be ready for anything.”
Undoubtedly, Sheridan’s top priority will be stopping El Dorado senior Mekaylan Hicks, who is averaging well over 20 points per game in the postseason. The senior UCA signee has also turned into a leader on the floor, urging, encouraging and even chastising teammates.
“She’s stepping up and she’s being the leader that I want her to be. She’s leading us the right way,” said Rogers. “She’s encouraging her teammates and also holding them accountable. That’s what you want from a leader. Not only is she leading by mouth, she’s leading by example. I’m so proud of her and, going forward, we need her to continue that.”
The Lady Wildcats turned in, by far, their best defensive effort of the season in the win over Jonesboro.
“I thought our defense was exceptional. We’d been working on that 3-2 for about a week, now,” said Rogers. “I felt like our bigs used their length up there at the top of it and we collapsed on the inside and tried to keep it out of their bigs’ hands. I just thought they executed the plan really well. This time of the year, that’s what you want your kids to do – execute the game plan and give yourselves a chance to win. I thought we did that.”
It’ll take more of the same against the conference champion Lady Yellowjackets.
El Dorado has driven home after both of its state tournament games. The Lady Wildcats drove back to Hot Springs on Friday and spent the night in a hotel before the noon tipoff today. As for being in the state semifinals, Rogers said her team isn’t surprised to be here.
“They’re not surprised at all. This is something we’ve been talking about all year,” she said.
“We worked for it every day in practice. When you talk about it and get kids to believe it, that’s what they live. After the game, we weren’t jumping up like we won a championship. We won a good game, yes, but that wasn’t the ultimate goal to just be in the semifinals. We know what our ultimate goal is and we’re working hard to get to it. We will continue to prepare and come out and, hopefully, do the same thing (today).”