No longer is the girls basketball program of Veterans High
School one of the only teams at this three-year-old institution to not reach
state tournament competition.
But the Lady Warhawks under head coach Nicole Miranda are
taking a 4-10 record from the Region 2-AAAA regular season into the GHSA AAAA
field in 2013 following back-to-back wins in the region tournament held at
Westside High in Macon.
After beating sixth-seeded Rutland High for the third time
(in the fourth meeting overall) Monday as the No. 7 seed, Veterans’ girls upset
West Laurens High 34-32. Recovering from recent shoulder problems, Jalyn
Slaughter battled the big girls of the Lady Raiders to score 13 points and grab
16 rebounds. In all, the Lady Warhawks had 40 rebounds, Khayla Owens coming off
the bench to grab seven herself.
West Laurens led by nine in the second quarter 14-5.
Veterans had only one scoring sequence in the whole first
quarter, and that was Slaughter’s three-point play off a dribble drive and
small distance bounce pass from Aspen Coggins. The Lady Warhawks had a chance
for more when back-up guard Ambria Cornelius stole the ball on the press at
1:12.
After Cornelius missed her ensuing 3-pointer, the Veterans
defense disrupted West Laurens’ final possession, so the score remained 7-3.
But in the second, the Lady Raiders seven points in a row
off three takeaways for the 14-5 advantage. Coggins sunk a 3 to start a 7-0 run
for the Lady Warhawks. Owens had a key steal and put in two foul shots bringing
her team back within two at 14-12.
Even with West Laurens’ apparent size advantage, its field
goal shooting was way off the mark, and Owens and Slaughter owned the defensive
boards and drew fouls. Asha Lee also had a big rebound at the 44-second mark of
the period, and with Slaughter’s put-back with 12 seconds on the clock the game
was tied 16-16 for the half.
Veterans never trailed in the second half with eight in a
row to begin the third quarter. Slaughter created a turnover for Kya
Poe-Cochran to lay in the go-ahead basket, and Kerrigan Poe-Cochran sped down
the court for 2 after picking up a loose basketball.
Miranda had her players screening and screening up top, Kya
Poe-Cochran and Lee working the pick-and-roll successfully and Coggins shooting
the ball in off a Slaughter screen.
West Laurens scored at the 4:48 mark. Veterans’ offensive
momentum slowed down, but the defensive intensity on the ball never waned from
Kya Poe-Cochran and Cornelius. The Lady Raiders managed to get within four at
26-22 at 1:46.
Out of a timeout, the Lady Warhawks put on another display
of high ball screening. Coggins found a lane to drive in and score. They had
three turnovers in the last three minutes, and though West Laurens only scored
off one it was a 28-25 game with the fourth still to play.
The margin was still three points, 29-26, halfway through
the period. West Laurens failed to score from a takeaway at 3:52. Coggins, Kya
and Kerrigan Poe-Cochran passed, dribbled and moved the basketball through the
Lady Raider defense. Slaughter stood open and converted a lay-up at 2:42 for
31-27.
But the Lady Warhawks couldn’t expect West Laurens to not
take advantage of all turnovers, and it did both at 2:08 and at 1:44 to tie the
game 31-31. With a third giveaway in a row, the Lady Raiders were in position
to lead with 1:03 showing in regulation.
But coming out of a timeout, West Laurens fumbled the ball
away, and Kerrigan Poe-Cochran recovered it on the floor. Kya Poe-Cochran stuck
in a floater at the 30-second mark and put through the front-end of a 1-and-1.
Veterans played without Courtney Palmer, injured during the
Monday win, 37-26, against Rutland. The Lady Warhawks trailed that game at the
half 17-14, but only gave up nine for the whole second half. Coggins alone had
nine second-half points, and Kerrigan Poe-Cochran led the winning effort with
16.
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