Photo: Coosa Christian’s Claire Davidson goes up for a basket during the Lady Conquerors’ 60-47 loss to Cedar Bluff in the Class 1A sub-regionals on Monday (Feb. 12) in Gadsden. (Gary Wells)
By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent
The Coosa Christian girls basketball team couldn’t overcome a 19-point first half deficit as its season came to end with a 60-47 loss to Cedar Bluff in the Class 1A sub-regionals on Monday (Feb. 12) in Gadsden.
Cedar Bluff sophomore guard Matison Bedwell buried six of her eight 3-pointers in the first half, and the Lady Tigers built a 23-8 lead after the first quarter.
The Lady Tigers extended their lead to 31-12 after a Bedwell triple with 5:43 remaining in the second quarter when the Lady Conquerors went on a furious run to get back into the game.
After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Coosa junior guard Claire Davidson sparked the run by scoring nine straight points for the Lady Conquerors.
Coosa cut the lead to seven after a Davidson three, but two Cedar Bluff free throws gave the Lady Tigers a 35-26 lead at the half.
The Lady Conquerors started the second half exactly how they ended the first. Freshman Ryleigh Waid hit a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the third quarter, and a Davison layup trimmed the lead to four points. Bedwell hit a three to push the lead back to seven, but Davidson responded with another triple.
Just when Coosa cut the margin to three points, Bedwell hit another three to extend the Cedar Bluff lead back to six points. But the Lady Conquerors didn’t go away.
After a Cedar Bluff basket gave the Lady Tigers an eight-point lead, Ashton Mills hit a three-pointer to cut the lead back to five. Coosa got the ball back, and center India Brown made two free throws to slice the lead back to three points with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Every time Coosa got within striking distance, however, Cedar Bluff responded with a run of its own. The Lady Tigers extended the lead back to eight points by the end of the third quarter and
never looked back in the final period.
Bedwell finished with a game-high 27 points, while Alexis Smith chipped in 12 for the Lady Tigers.
Coosa Christian head coach Jayme Hollingsworth said the team’s game plan was to take away other scorers, and that strategy freed Bedwell to have a big night from outside.
“We had a game plan, and it was to take some other (players) away, and the one (player) we were going to let do some things made us pay,” Hollingsworth said. “They hit seven or eight threes in the first half and we dug ourselves a hole that was difficult to get out of.”
The Lady Conquerors finished the season with a 21-10 record.
Hollingsworth said Cedar Bluff’s postseason experience was a difference maker in the game.
“That’s a team that’s been (in the sub-regionals) several times,” he said. “They’ve been in Jacksonville every year for as long as I can remember. So, that’s a team who knows how to win and that’s something we’re still trying to get to. I feel like we’re just right there at the tip.”
Davidson led the Lady Conquerors with 16 points and eight rebounds. Brown scored 10 points and pulled in a game-high 15 rebounds. Waid scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Mills scored seven points and had seven rebounds.