Fourth-quarter rally shakes up Region 7A-A girls race
Stratford's showdown with unbeaten Tattnall Square on Friday was supposed to determine the early leader in GHSA Region 7A-A girls basketball action.
That game still will have a lot of bearing on the region race. But that race became a three-team affair Tuesday, when FPD tripped up Stratford 38-32 to hand the Eagles just their second loss of the season.
Stratford, which beat FPD handily in both of their meetings last season, saw an eight-point lead disappear in the first three minutes of the final quarter. The Vikings' Emma Lako scored five of her game-high 13 points in the final quarter, converting a three-point play at the seven-minute mark to cap a 7-0 burst in the opening minute of the fourth.
FPD (8-5, 2-0 Region 7A-A) went 8-of-14 from the field and hit its lone free-throw attempt in the final quarter. Stratford (12-2, 1-1) went 1-of-10 from the field in the fourth, missing all four of its 3-point attempts.
FOUR WHO MATTERED
Lako: FPD's junior guard stirred things up from the start. Five of her eight steals came in the opening quarter. She also had four rebounds in the third quarter that helped FPD keep Stratford from running away with things prior to the Vikings' fourth-quarter charge.
Kate Patterson: She had two baskets during the Vikings' game-changing run, finishing with four points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:41 to go.
Sydney Reese: The 5-foot-4 senior barely (if at all) left the floor for FPD, finishing with eight points, five steals and four rebounds.
Carey Woodcock: The Stratford sophomore scored nine points, all on 3-pointers, making two in the second quarter to help the Eagles claim a 20-12 halftime lead.
TURNING POINT
The opening minute of the fourth quarter completely flipped the game. Stratford led 29-21 entering the fourth quarter, but Sadie Frame's bucket 10 seconds into the fourth set off a chain of events that included a Patterson basket 13 seconds later and Lako's three-point play at the seven-minute mark. Momentum swung FPD's way at that point, and Stratford never came up with a response.
OBSERVATIONS
Shooting woes: Stratford's 1-of-10 fourth quarter was the culmination of a game in which the Eagles couldn't shoot well. After going 6-of-30 from the field in the first half, Stratford improved slightly in the third quarter, going 4-of-13, before things turned cold in the fourth.
Rebound margin: FPD outrebounded Stratford 41-34, with the Vikings claiming a 6-5 edge in the final eight minutes.
ALSO TUESDAY NIGHT
Thanks to some hot shooting early from O'Showen Williams, Stratford's boys rolled to a 58-31 win over FPD. Williams hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a game-high 24 points. Quintez Cephus added 16 points as the Eagles (9-3, 1-1) bounced back from Saturday's loss to Wilkinson County. Champ Dawson led FPD (7-4, 1-1) with 10 points.
THEY SAID IT
FPD girls head coach John Griffin on what worked for the Vikings: "We really improved in our press, and our press got us a bunch of easy baskets or gave us the opportunity to get some easier shots. We had some difficulty in the first half getting into our offense, but it was a little easier in the second half. Most of it was transition and getting down the floor or the work defensively we did on the press to get some buckets."
Lako on what getting the win meant: "We didn't play our best in the first half, but we rallied and showed how well we worked as a team and showed we really wanted to win. We were down 12, and we got the win in the end. That was awesome. It was a great region win for us."
Stratford head coach Ed Smith on the loss: "We had our chances in the first half to open it up a bit, but it didn't happen. We shot poorly all night, and if you shoot poorly then you have to rebound, and we stopped down the stretch. They got too many chances, and they outplayed us."
WHAT'S NEXT?
FPD hosts Mount de Sales at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, while Stratford hosts Tattnall Square at the same time Friday.
This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Fourth-quarter rally shakes up Region 7A-A girls race ."