By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
JACKSONVILLE – In the games where the Cherokee County Lady Warriors have had lower point totals this basketball season, their opponents made them play a half-court game.
On Thursday morning in the Class 4A Northeast Regional final against Anniston, that was exactly what Lady Bulldog head coach Eddie Bullock had in mind for his game plan against the Lady Warriors.
Neither team had a player to reach double figures in scoring, but Anniston was able to outlast Cherokee County by the final of 34-24 to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2021. The Lady Warriors’ season ends at 28-5.
“The second half was more in the half court. They put some pressure on us and we didn’t handle it well,” Cherokee County coach Richard Barton said. “We kind of knew what we were up against, what they did well and what we had to do to be able to pull it out. I think today they were the more disciplined team. They moved the ball around. Any time we made one small mistake they got layups off it or they hit us with an open three.”
All-tournament selection Layla Tyus led the Lady Bulldogs (27-4) with nine points and six rebounds, but it was tournament Most Valuable Player A’Kayla Perry’s 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter that seemed to put a dagger in the Lady Warriors.
Perry’s trey gave Anniston a 24-18 edge. Up to that point, neither team had more than a five-point lead.
Cherokee County sophomore forward Nevaeh Gaidurgis closed out the quarter with a basket to make it a 24-20 game, but that would be the last field goal the Lady Warriors made until Gaidurgis had a rebound and put back with 30 seconds remaining in the game to make the score 32-24 in Anniston’s favor.
Gaidurgis, along with sophomore guard Ellisan Givens, led the Lady Warriors with six points apiece. Givens also had nine rebounds.
“They gave us a run for our money,” said Lady Warrior senior shooting guard Mary Hayes Johnson, who finished with just three points. “It was hard to get by any of them. They were just quick and moved good. They all rotated well. It was just good defense.”
“They were up in us,” said Lady Warrior senior guard Audrey Haygood, who managed just five points. “They were aggressive. They’re a scrappy team.”
Anniston head coach Eddie Bullock said the Lady Bulldogs focused on taking away Johnson and Haygood, particularly Johnson.
“I’m a defensive guy. Even though in college I played shooting guard, I know defense is going to win championships,” Bullock said. “I broke down their film and ran their plays. I showed them what they were doing. Despite doing that, we still made a lot of mistakes that we shouldn’t have made. I try to explain to them that you can’t figure it out during the game. You’ve got to have it already ready before the game, then you’ve got to put it into play once you get on the court.
“(Johnson’s) quick. She can shoot it. Her speed is kind of deceptive. She doesn’t look as fast as she is with the ball. She’s hard to guard. Her and No. 3 (Haygood) are the head of the snake. You cut the head off the snake, the snake will die.”
“We got good looks at certain points in the half court,” Barton said. “We executed some good sets and had stuff open, but sometimes shots don’t fall. We know we didn’t play our best in the second half. We’ll move on and learn from it. Hopefully these girls take something from it so it’s not all for nothing. The group that’s coming back (next season), we’re going to keep working.”
Tykeria Smith added eight points and eight boards for Anniston. She joined Perry and Tyus as Lady Bulldog all-tournament selections.
Johnson and Givens, along with New Hope’s Jada Bates and Handley’s Takeriauna Mosely, were also all-tournament selections.
