Shelley: What was I thinking?

How did I manage to miss this?

In my own backyard, in my own coverage area, in my own section of the newspaper, I’ve completely let the Woodland Lady Bobcats fly under my radar.

After Woodland’s run in the playoffs so far, consider me officially on board.

I’ve watched the Lady Bobcats for the last four years or so completely dominate the courts around here.

Under the leadership of record-holding Courtney Strain, the Lady Bobcats have been one of the premier programs in 2A basketball.

But with Courtney now playing for Auburn, I thought Woodland would lose a step this season.

Stupid me.

Of course, there’s still Leah Strain. But I thought, how much difference could a freshman make on a team that struggled in the regionals the last couple of years with a more experienced player?

I’ll admit, I didn’t have as much faith in this version of the Lady Cats as I had the last couple of years.

Wrong again.

Leah has proven to be just as capable a leader as Courtney had been. So much so that the Lady Cats are one game away from hoisting a state title trophy.

Even Woodland’s regular season gave me reason to doubt them. With a couple of losses to Ranburne, the odd loss to teams like Cherokee County, Hatton and Spring Garden, I thought this team was good, but not great.

Here I am kicking myself again.

When Woodland lost to Ranburne in the area tournament, I thought this could be considered a “rebuilding” year for the Lady Bobcats. Can you blame me? Woodland has owned Ranburne for about three years now. Suddenly, Woodland isn’t even considered the best in its own area.

I think Woodland head coach Larry Strain said it best after falling to Ranburne in that area championship game. I’m paraphrasing here, but he said he hoped it would be a wakeup call for the Lady Bobcats.

Turns out, he was right. It was a wakeup call. And Matt was still wrong.

Woodland went on the road and beat a good team in Altamont in the sub-regionals. While I expected Woodland to win that one, I thought that would be it.

Woodland got paired with the state’s top-ranked 2A girls’ team, North Sand Mountain. I had seen it before. Woodland has had trouble in the northeast regionals in the last few years. Some team seemed to always find a way to crack Woodland.

But not this time.

Woodland took the fight to North Sand Mountain and won. Then it was on to the Lady Bobcats’ most familiar opponent, Ranburne.

Woodland beat Ranburne only once this season prior to its regional match-up. But remember that wakeup call? The alarm clock buzzer must have still been ringing loudly in the Lady Cats’ ears.

It was all Woodland this time against Ranburne.

Tuesday, Woodland faced Barbour County. Surely I thought, this was the end of the line for Woodland.

Nope. Wrong.

Woodland out-hustled, out-played and out-coached Barbour County.

As I sit writing this, just hours after Woodland punched its ticket to the state championship game in Birmingham, I’ve finally got it through my thick head.

Woodland has played its best ball in the playoffs. That’s exactly when you want to play your best.

After all my doubting and all my dismissing, I’m finally starting to believe.

Maybe, just maybe, Woodland is the real deal.