HANCEVILLE, Ala. – For the sixth straight season, the Good Hope Lady Raiders and the Deshler Lady Tigers did battle in the Regional Semifinals on Tuesday night with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line. It was a tight battle in the first half, with Good Hope holding onto a slim lead at the break. Deshler took the lead in the third, but a late run by the Lady Raiders saw them claim a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way, as they ended up defeating the Lady Tigers 60-50 to move on to the Elite Eight for the third straight season.
Lexi Marshall got the scoring started for Good Hope with a three from the right corner, the start of what would be a great night for the senior. Sophie Konrad knocked down a short jumper to give the Lady Raiders an early 5-2 lead. A Lady Tiger trey tied things up at five, and both teams would trade mini runs and baskets for the majority of the first period. Another three by Deshler gave them a 13-12 lead late in the first, but a pair of baskets in the paint by Lucie Adams and Konrad put Good Hope ahead 16-13. The Lady Tigers drilled another trey and added a free throw to give them a 17-16 lead, but Ella Gossett buried a three from the right wing to give the Lady Raiders a 19-17 lead going into the second period.
Marshall drilled her third trey of the first half from the right corner, and Ella Davis scored the next four points for Good Hope to give them a 26-22 lead. Marshall’s fourth three of the game and a pair of free throws by Gossett widened the Lady Raider lead to 31-24. Two quick treys by the Lady Tigers cut it to 31-30 late in the first half, but Marshall’s red-hot first half concluded with a layup, as Good Hope would take a 33-30 lead into the locker room.
Deshler started the second half on fire, going on a 10-3 run to take a 40-36 lead with 4:31 remaining in the third. It was Good Hope’s turn to go on a run of their own, and Marshall got things started with her fifth three of the game, and Konrad scored three to give them a 42-40 lead. One of the biggest plays of the game came not too long after that, off of a missed shot, Konrad saved the ball from going out of bounds and the ball would end up into the hands of Davis, who got fouled. She ended up hitting both free throws, and a technical foul was called on the Lady Tigers later in the third. Adams split her free throws, and Davis split her technical free throws to put the Lady Raiders ahead, 46-40 going into the final period.
Gossett found a cutting Marshall down low for the easy layup to make it 48-40 early in the fourth. A pair of baskets by Deshler made it a 50-45 game. After another made basket by the Lady Tigers cut it to 52-47, Gossett found Marshall in the right corner for yet another three, and Gossett added two free throws to stretch Good Hope’s lead to 57-48 with a little over a minute to go in the contest. Konrad’s three free throws and late steal helped seal the Lady Raiders’ 60-50 win over Deshler, as they will make a return trip to the Regional Finals for the third straight season.
Marshall finished with six treys en route to a 22-point night for her, and she also added six rebounds as well. Konrad put in 12 points, four rebounds, and collected four steals on the night. Gossett also ended up with 12 points, along with four assists. Davis finished with a double-double: 11 points and 13 rebounds, and she chipped in with five assists as well.
Post-game, Coach Justin Aby spoke about his pride in the way the team executed their game plan against Deshler.
“Overall, it was a complete team effort. Everything, from Gossett’s defense on Reece Davis, the girls in help position, as far as on the defensive end, being prepared to help off of it. On the offensive end, we had some girls step up. Lexi was 6/10 on three-pointers. That’s a really good percentage at a high level. I’m pretty sure some of them didn’t touch the net. They just went straight through the basket. It was a great team win overall. I want to give a shout out to my assistant coaches. They developed a gameplan, and the girls bought into it. They bought into it, and they executed. That’s something that we’ve been talking about the past several days on what we need to do to beat Deshler. Hats off to these girls for doing what it takes to survive and advance,” Aby said.
It’s become a little bit of a rivalry between the teams, and coach Aby just loves the competitiveness that both teams bring to the table. The journey to get to the Elite Eight has been hard for the Lady Raiders, but a worthy one. They will go back to the drawing board and get a game plan ready for their Elite Eight opponent, Wilson.
“There’s a lot of competitiveness. The truth of the matter is it’s two really good programs, and we’ve got to go through the same path. We’re trying to compete, and make sure that it’s us and not them,” Aby said. “It’s hard. You can talk to any basketball coach all around the state. You can’t take anything for granted. I’m blessed to have some really great assistants, and I not only have some great basketball players, but even better people. I love these kids. They’re good kids. It’s good to see them buy into the program, having a goal, and chasing that dream. We just had a really emotional win over Deshler, so we’ll have to get back to the drawing board and see what Wilson has. We’re going to have to buy into the plan, execute it, and that way, we can survive another day.”
Senior Lexi Marshall was excited to help the team get a big win over the Lady Tigers, and she talked about what the journey’s been like to get to this point in the season. The things that her and Molly Johnson learned from the seniors before them during their deep playoff runs has helped them immensely this season.
“We hustled and did our jobs that we were practicing at practice. (Ella) Gossett had to face guard Reece, and she did really good. Our help was there, and we just came out and played our game,” Marshall said. “I was just ready to play today. I was confident. The journey’s been exciting. I like playing with this team, and as a senior, I want to keep going as far as I can. We’re in the Elite Eight now, and I want to keep going. Having their leadership, and helping us get better every day, they helped us work, and they pushed us to get better. It meant more to us.”
Lexi and junior Ella Gossett have taken away much from the coaches and the seniors before them, helping them become the players that they are today.
“It’s been great having all these amazing coaches, and some of the most influential people to me were the Tetro twins. When I moved here in my eighth-grade year, I practiced with them every day, and they pushed me to be better all the time. They didn’t go easy on me, and that was the best thing for me, just having them as people I can look up to. It has really helped me become a better player.” Gossett said.
“The Tetro twins, Ivey Maddox, Ava, and all of them, having to guard them, and they pushed us to be better every day.” Marshall said.
Good Hope will face off against Wilson in the Class 4A Regional Finals next Monday night at 7:30 p.m.
