ADDISON, Ala. — Addison hosted the 4A Dora Bulldogs on a rainy night at Allen Stephenson Gym and came away with a hard fought, 60-53 win. Addison improved to 18-9 on the season while Dora fell to 18-8.
The first period started with Addison playing about as good as they have all year and smothering the much larger Dora ladies with their patented woman to woman defense and causing numerous turnovers. Addison jumped out to a big lead and held the powerful Dora squad to only two points in the period. Addison won the period 19-2. Addison’s Junior Gracie “Bug” Manley led the way with eight points, four rebounds and two steals. Bracie “Tiny” Rodgers had three points, four boards, two steals and two assists. Dora’s lone basket was scored by Lyria Meadows, a sophomore.
In the second period, Addison stretched the lead to 22-2 and then the ladies from Dora apparently woke up and decided that enough was enough. The comeback was on as the Dora Lady Bulldogs started playing basketball. Dora won the period 17-10 to go in at the half down 29-19. Dora was led by eighth grader Bella Reese who had five points. Senior Ja’kiyah Womack had four points and three blocked shots. Sophomore Lyria Meadows had two points and three rebounds. Addison was led by Anna Grace “The Glove” Luker who kept Addison close as she had five points and five rebounds.
The third period was a carbon copy of the second period as Dora got all the loose balls and seemed a step quicker than the Addison Lady Dawgs. Dora won the frame 18-10 to cut the Addison lead to 39-37, going into the fourth period. Dora was led by Womack who had only two points but grabbed four more rebounds and four blocked shots. Womack, if she didn’t block the shots, altered them all night long. Junior Rukia Chapel had eight big points. Addison’s Luker had four points and three rebounds. Junior “Magic” Molly Gilbreath scored two points and grabbed two boards for Addison.
The fourth period was an exciting one for both fan bases. Both Dora and Addison got hot from outside and generally played very good team basketball. The defense was solid, and the offense was fairly crisp. The score was all tied up at 41 with 6:47 to go in the game when Addison went on a run. The Addison Lady Bulldogs scored 8 of the next 11 points to take a 49-44 lead with five minutes left. Gilbreath scored four points with Luker and Hadley “Shooter” Butler put in two points each. Dora responded by scoring the next four points, two points each from Reese and Lyunnie Rogers. The score stood at 49-48 in Addison’s favor with only four minutes to go. Over the next three minutes Addison outscored Dora 11-0 to lead 60-48 and for all intents and purposes, seal the game. Addison was able to pressure the young Dora ladies into several turnovers during the span and limited them to one shot per possession. Luker led Addison with eight points and Gilbreath tallied six. Dora’s Chapel nailed two deep three-pointers for six points and Reese had six as well. Addison was able to win the period 21-16 and come away with a 60-53 victory.
Addison Head Coach Bailey Boland,
“We got off to a great start and then kinda slacked off. We, as a team, have to learn to play hard for all four periods. We cannot take a period off. When you get a 20-point lead you should put the team away. We weren’t able to do that, and you have to give the young women from Dora a ton of credit,” Boland said. “Even down by 20 they never quit and really pressured us. Playing this type of game should really help us get ready for Monday night (the area tournament). We play Cold Springs in the first round and my mom (Head Coach Tammy West) has advanced out of the first round of the area tournaments for the past 27 years. We are going to try and end that streak on Monday.”
Unofficial stats:
Addison was led in scoring by Luker with a game high 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Manley had 13 points, seven boards and four steals. Gilbreath had 11 points, two points and two steals. Rodgers had seven points, seven boards, five assists and seven steals. Butler had seven points, three boards and two steals. Lydia “Barbie” Ergle had three boards and one assist. Emma Ridgeway had two points, one rebound and a steal. Lauryn Cunningham had two boards and two assists. Gracie Roberts had a big rebound in the fourth period.
Dora was led by Chapel’s 16 points. Reese had 11 points and five boards. Meadows had 11 points and five boards. Womack had seven points, 12 rebounds and an amazing nine blocked shots. Millicent Wilson had four points. Mikayla Reese had two points and three boards. Rogers had two points and three boards. Amiyah Doaty had two boards.
Addison plays at Winston County High School Monday night at 5:30 pm against the Cold Springs Lady Eagles in the first round of the Area Tournament.
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