Lady Tigers dismantle RCHS, earn hard fought win over Woodland for county championship

For the second year in a row, the Handley Lady Tigers proved why they are the elite team in Randolph County by winning the county basketball tournament in Woodland.

Handley had an easy go of things in the opening round of the tournament with a 78-30 win over a young Randolph County team.

But the Lady Tigers had their hands full in the championship game against Courtney Strain and the Woodland Lady Bobcats.

Strain was a force to be reckoned with in the title game, putting up 57 points on the normally stingy Handley defense, but the overall team athleticism of the Lady Tigers gave them a 69-66 victory.

“My belief is that one man can’t beat us, and I was almost wrong in that,” Handley head coach Jimmy Askew said.

Askew said Handley’s game plan was to play a man-to-man defense against Woodland. And while the defensive schemes worked on the rest of the team, the Lady Tigers had trouble containing Strain.

“We played her (Strain) straight up for the most part,” Askew said. “We double teamed her in the sense that when she got the ball we trapped her a lot.”

Woodland head coach Larry Strain said while Courtney had an exceptional game, it was hard for the Lady Bobcats to overcome Handley’s overall team athleticism.

“Handley’s got plenty of athletes,” Strain said. “It causes you to have to play a different kind of defense.”

Although Handley and Woodland have met previously this season, Strain said it’s hard to prepare for a team like that.

“The biggest thing that affects us is it’s hard to simulate that kind of speed and athleticism,” Strain said.

Handley kept plenty of defensive pressure on Woodland throughout the game, and the Lady Bobcats had trouble making up for it.

After the first quarter, Handley led 14-9, and it looked as though Handley had firm control of the game.

But Woodland surged in the second quarter and closed the gap to a 30-27 lead in favor of Handley going into halftime.

Courtney Strain accounted for 22 of Woodland’s 27 first-half points.

“I knew Courtney was going to be tough, there’s no doubt about that,” Askew said.

Ultimately, it was the combined effort of Handley’s inside threat, Brittany Paige, outside shooters Shelby Hunter and Sylvia Staples and solid play from the bench that made the difference.

“Being able to kick it inside and get it outside to Hunter and Staples, that kept us in that game,” Askew said.

Larry Strain said a few second half mistakes also led to Woodland’s defeat.

“It really came down to late in the ball game,” Strain said. “We had a couple of turnovers that hurt us. We had a hard time stopping them on defense.”

Both Askew and Strain said it was a good experience for both teams because of the level of competition.

“I enjoy playing Woodland because they give us a tough time,” Askew said. “It’s good for us because we need to be challenged.”

Paige led Handley with 29 points and 16 rebounds, while Hunter shot for 18 points and Staples shot for 12 points.

In the first round of the county tournament, Woodland defeated Wadley, 50-38, to earn the championship bid.

But as it is with every contest between these two rival schools, it was a battle.

“It was a pretty physical game and we knew it would be,” Strain said.

Woodland and Wadley met earlier in the week, and Woodland played off the momentum of a 69-50 win going into the tournament game with Wadley.

In the first game against Woodland, Wadley’s game plan was to play straight man-to-man in hopes of limiting Strain as much as possible.

Wadley head coach Chad Kendrick said it worked as well as it could have with Strain shooting for only 32 points-big numbers for most any player, but somewhat of a down night for Strain.

“Our goal was to contain her as much as possible and I really felt like we played good defense,” Kendrick said. “It became a low scoring game which is what we wanted.”

On the other hand, Woodland had its own concerns against Wadley, with a former All-County MVP in Ebony Battle to deal with.

“We were trying to take Ebony out of the game and make somebody else beat us,” Strain said. “It seemed to work pretty well.”

Battle accounted for 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks in the first game against Woodland. Tanechia James and Ashley Weaver each added 11 points.

“Against anybody else, a performance like that would have been a victory,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick and the Lady Dogs knew they had their work cut out for them in the tournament rematch against Woodland.

“I felt like the first game playing her (Strain) man-to-man didn’t completely get the job done,” Kendrick said.

Instead of playing straight man on Strain, Kendrick decided to double-team her all the way down the court.

Again, Wadley held Strain to only 36 points. But it wasn’t the lack of defense or execution that hurt the Dogs in the first-round loss.

“Free throws really hurt us,” Kendrick said. “They’ve hurt us in several games this year. We’re playing well enough to win games, but our shooting’s not where it needs to be.”

Strain said he and the team knew Wadley would come ready to play.

“It was a lot more aggression being played on the court,” Strain said. “They understood what the game was about and what it was for.”

And in the end, the Lady Dogs fell to the Lady Cats in a hard-fought rivalry game for the second time last week and Woodland was on to face Handley for the championship.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Strain said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Handley had a somewhat easier road to the championship game against an inexperienced and youthful Randolph County.

Handley took over the game quickly, leading 23-9 by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

“They’re just so young,” Askew said. “It’s hard to say anything about our ability against them because they’re so young.”

For the Handley Lady Tigers, which now sit at 15-1 on the season, the tournament was all about continuing to be the best in the county for another year.

“It’s big for my seniors,” Askew said. “My girls want to win the county tournament. Bragging rights is basically it for the kids.”