By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, February 8, 2009
One thing has to happen for the Slidell High School girls' basketball team to have any chance of making the state playoffs. The seniorless team has to win its final three games.
The Lady Greyhounds took the first step towards achieving that goal Friday night against Gold-Burg. They shot the ball well from the opening tip-off and never slowed down in blasting the Bears 62-14.
Slidell, which did not allow more than six points in any quarter, put an exclamation point on the victory in the fourth quarter. That's where they blew open a 20-point lead by outscoring Gold-Burg 26-0 in the quarter, leaving no doubt this young bunch means business in the final week of the season.
"We shot the ball well early which helped us relax," said SHS coach Cody Vanover. "We tried a few new things during the third quarter that did not work too well, and we never got back into a rhythm during the quarter. In the fourth, Gold-Burg just kind of shut it down and let us do whatever we wanted."
The win allowed Slidell to move to 8-4 in District 17-1A play and 11-16 for the season. The locals currently sit in fourth, one place behind Midway for the third and final playoff spot. Midway finishes the season against Saint Jo and Byers, the top two teams in the district, while Slidell wraps up against Bellevue and last-place Prairie Valley.
"There is playoff hope, but we have to take care of ourselves," Vanover said.
The game against Gold-Burg was never in doubt. The Lady Greyhounds owned the first eight minutes of the game where they jumped out to a 19-4 lead.
The defensive work of Chanel Brewer, Katy Stephens and Bobbi Clemmer smothered the Gold-Burg shooters.
The domination continued in the second quarter where Allie Staub and Sarah Davis lit up the GHS defense like a Christmas tree. The duo carried the team on a 14-4 run that gave Slidell a 33-8 halftime lead.
The Bears won the third quarter and made the most of Slidell turnovers and mistakes. They scored a game-high six points and held SHS to just three in trimming the deficit by three points, 36-14.
The fourth quarter was all Lady Greyhounds where they ran over the Bears. The lackluster Gold-Burg defense was hardly a factor while the Slidell offense had its way with the Bears for all eight minutes.
Staub, who led all scorers with 24 points, scored 12 in the first quarter and 12 in the fourth. The sophomore sandwiched her baskets with a career-high 15 rebounds and six steals.
Davis had a big night as well with 15 points and had a career-high six assists. Stephens put in 15 points, while Clemmer had five and Brewer had three.
