By Marco Clark, exclusive to the Times T
he Lady Gators had a tough loss against district rival Lady Bulldogs of Red River Wednesday night. Injuries and youth played a tremendous part in the loss, but head coach Lawanda Wright did not use that for an excuse. Coach Wright explained, “You tend to learn a lot about yourself as a player and team when you have a loss like this. The thing we must address is being able to switch quicker on defense and spreading the floor for better shot opportunities on offense.
These things will be addressed during practice.” Action in the first quarter was fast paced which worked in the favor of the Lady Bulldogs who were able to score the majority of their points from the perimeter. Lakeview attempted to match the shooting from long distance but their shots were not falling. The Lady Bulldogs would use Lakeview’s missed shots to their advantage by getting the defensive rebound and converting on the opposite end. The first quarter ended with Red River leading Lakeview 22-2. The Gators play improved during the second quarter scoring 10 points.
Jada Williams led with 6 points and Breanna Harrison and Zenobia Poydras contributing 2 each. However, Red River took a 38-12 lead into halftime. Coming out of the half, Lakeview’s problems from the first quarter reared their ugly heads again. The Lady Gators put forth the effort with good shot selections but the shots where not falling. This frustrated the players and coaching staff as well as the fans, but what was evident about the Lady Gators was they did not throw in the towel.
They kept fighting which will pay off during the regular season. The third quarter ended with the Lady Bulldogs leading 57-14. During the fourth quarter both coaches emptied their benches giving their younger players valuable playing time. Asharia Smith scored 4 points while Averi Slaughter and Zenobia Poydras scored 2 each. Red River players would only score a combined 5 points during the fourth quarter making the final score 62-22.