White House - Heritage HS Lady Pats overpowered in region opener, fall to MTCS, 52-35
Lady Pats overpowered in region opener, fall to MTCS, 52-35
Written by John Ferguson Friday, 26 February 2010 21:53
Taylor Traughber battles inside in the region opener.
Frustrated by Middle Tennessee Christian School's aggressive, athletic full-court pressure, the Lady Patriots fell in Friday night's opening round of the Region 5-A tournament, 52-35.
The Lady Cougars took a page from McEwen's tactics, double-teaming Heritage point guard Shelby Ray from end line to end line. The tactics worked, as MTCS forced the hosts into 32 turnovers on the night.
Even with the high pressure, Heritage was competitive throughout the first half, surviving a 9-0 Cougar run in the first half that gave the visitors a 15-8 lead midway through the second quarter.
However, after leading 23-18 at halftime, MTCS standout Alex Martin hit three huge third-quarter 3-pointers that shifted the momentum firmly to the Cougar side for the rest of the evening.
Afterward, Heritage coach Eric Rowland was disappointed in the result, but not his team's effort.
"Defensively, we have not faced a team this year that can apply the amount of pressure they [MTCS] applied tonight," Rowland said. "We were in the game until the third quarter, but then we had a couple of defensive breakdowns. This deep in the season, all the teams are strong, so mental mistakes are going to cost you."
With Ray shackled, other Patriots did step up. Taylor Traughber had another strong game, leading Heritage with 12 points while battling the Cougars inside all night. Shelby Cotham helped keep the hosts close, scoring 6 of her 8 points in the first half.
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The defeat closes a season that saw the Lady Patriots overachieve - picked to finish at the the bottom of District 10-A, Heritage gained steam all season long, and found themselves with an opportunity to play for the district regular-season title. A week later, they went right to the wire in the district tournament championship.
They lost both of those games ... but in the big picture, so what? For a team that was never supposed to be there, the Patriots played like they belonged. Measuring a team's success in just wins and losses misses the point - the Lady Pats maximized their abilities and overachieved this season, a tribute to both the girls and their coach.
In fact, one of the true injustices of the year was Rowland's snub for district coach of the year - anyone present for Heritage's first three games of the season knows the job he did this year.
"When you look at where we were at the beginning of the year, you can see that the girls came a long way this season, from where we started to where we finished," Rowland said.
We heartily agree.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (52) - Martin 22, Mullins 7, Sweeney 6, Welker 5, Peters 4, Brewer 3, Sims 2, Sadle 2, Howard 1
HERITAGE (35) - Traughber 12, Cotham 8, Ray 5, Dorris 5, Greene 2, Atwood 2, Doty 1
