Cottage Hill Christian Academy girls coach Brad Newton exhorts his team to keep playing in Tuesday’s Class 3A state semifinal at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The Warriors lost to Plainview 81-24. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Cottage Hill Christian Academy’s Dakota Freeman puts up a shot against Plainview Tuesday. Freeman was held to 4 points in her final high school game. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Cottage Hill Christian Academy’s Taylor Davidson drives up the court against Plainview Tuesday. Davidson led the Warriors with 9 points. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
BIRMINGHAM — No. 2-ranked Plainview continued its postseason rampage Tuesday and this time Cottage Hill Christian Academy had the misfortune of straddling the fast lane.
Sophomore Sawyer Kate Hulgan unleashed a torrent of 3-pointers in the first period, scored 25 of her 28 points in the first half and led the Bears to an 81-24 victory over the Warriors, who were making their first appearance in the Class 3A girls final four.
Since it reached the postseason, Plainview (32-5) has won five games by 49, 41, 55, 48 and 57 points.
Hulgan, feeling no pressure from Cottage Hill’s zone, attacked it with four 3-pointers in the first period, made 7 of 10 in the first half and rained down 8 of 12 in all from the darkened upper reaches of Legacy Arena. The Bears attempted almost three times as many three-pointers (45) as two-pointers (19).
“I was nervous but I knew if I missed or made, they would love me anyway,” said Hulgan, who didn’t have to worry about the former.
That’s because Plainview coach Luke Griggs wants his team to shoot fearlessly.
“Shooters shoot,” Griggs said matter of factly. “Our girls shoot a lot. If any of them are open, we want them shooting the ball.”
The Bears never trailed, scoring the first 12 points, leading 28-2 after one period and 46-11 at halftime.
“We didn’t want to give them any room to come out and have a chance,” said Plainview’s Lauren Jimmerson, who added 17 points.
There was nothing Warriors coach Brad Newton could do to alter the momentum.
“We changed defenses a couple of times to see if we could slow them down,” he said. ‘We’re a zone team. Man-to-man defense is not our strength.”
The Bears are clearly playing on a different level than most girls teams.
“We want to play to our standard,” Griggs said. “We’re not worried about the other team so much. We knew they’d be special if I didn’t mess it up.”
In the regionals, CHCA won two games despite making just 3 of 27 shots in the first period. But this time, another poor start — the Warriors were 1 of 11 in the first period and 4 of 17 in the first half — didn’t matter because of how well Plainview filled the basket. The Bears were so dominant early that even if CHCA had made every shot it tried in the first half, it still would have trailed 46-36.
Newton and his players took solace in the fact they won 11 of their last 13 games after a 3-9 start to reach the final four for the first time.
“What a great experience it’s been for our girls, what they’ve accomplished for our program, to take the steps we have,” Newton said. “When I took the job five years ago, I think they had won like three games. This group was a bunch of eighth graders. This year, we saw their work pay off. They set a new standard for Cottage Hill girls basketball. I told them in the locker room that it didn’t go the way we wanted but this was not indicative of our team.”
Star guard Dakota Freeman, who was held to only 4 points in her high school finale, said the Warriors will be remembered for recovering from the shaky start to the season to reach the state tournament.
“We tried our hardest,” she said. “It’s amazing we pushed so hard from where we were.”
But unlike the season itself, there was no recovery from Tuesday’s ghastly start as Freeman’s worst fears were realized early.
“I knew they were really good shooters and that we’d have to play the best defense we’d played all year,” she said. “They moved the ball really well.”
Plainview, which was taller and rangier than Cottage Hill, applied full-court pressure from the outset, wrecked the Warriors’ zone and the few jumpers they missed were converted into second-shot points.
CHCA was outrebounded 18-11 on the offensive glass and was outscored 34-13 on 28 turnovers, 23-13 on second-chance points and 21-0 off the bench.
“We knew we’d have to get off to a good start and Plainview just shot the eyes out of it at the beginning,” Newton said. “My biggest concern coming in was handling their pressure. We didn’t do it and they made some easy baskets and it snowballed. We’re not very deep and fatigue got us at the end.”
