From left to right: Cooper Williams, Lexie Dishner, head coach Scott Veal, Hoyt Miles, Ava Butler, Zella Williams, Alecia Shack-Donaldson, Addisyn Randolph, Jasmine Wilson, Adrian Randolph, Jolie Kate Cox, Krissa Comer, Bekah Junkin, Lily Robinson, Erin Culp and Dustin Silas.
By Luke Brantley
Staff writer
BIRMINGHAM — The Marion County High School Lady Red Raiders are the 1A girls state runners-up after losing the state final to Spring Garden 63-31 on Thursday, Feb. 29.
The appearance in the state final marked the fourth in a row for the Lady Raiders, which included one state championship title.
Marion County advanced to the final round after defeating Keith High School 65-37 in the semi-final round on Monday, Feb. 26.
The championship game began with Spring Garden taking a 21-9 lead in the first quarter, a lead they would maintain for the entire game.
The Lady Raiders closed the gap slightly, going into halftime trailing only 34-21.
During the third quarter, Spring Garden began to widen their lead, ending the third quarter with a 50-27 lead.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Spring Garden held steady and won the game 63-31 to claim the state championship.
In the championship game, Jasmine Wilson scored the most points with 14, adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Bekah Junkin scored 8 points, along with making 2 assists.
Lily Robinson scored 5 points and made 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Jolie Kate Cox scored 4 points and grabbed 6 rebounds along with 1 block.
The Lady Raiders ended the season as state runners-up with an overall record of 18-15.
Marion County’s head girls’ basketball coach Scott Veal said his girls were up against a difficult opponent, especially Spring Garden’s Ace Austin, who scored 35 points against the Raiders during the game.
“What an honor it is to be back here for another year,” Veal said. “I thought our kids played hard. It’s kind of like we went up against a giant today. Spring Garden’s got a really good basketball team. Coach Austin does a really good job with them, and Ace (Austin) is a really good player. There’s more than one weapon you can’t stop on that team, and we picked our poison.
“I thought our game plan was spot-on. We just missed some easy shots early on in the game and some layups, and we had too many turnovers. But our rebounding—at halftime I think we had a four rebound difference between the two teams.”
Jasmine Wilson, a senior this year, shared her thoughts on the Lady Raiders advancing to state four years in a row.
See complete story in the Journal Record.
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