HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The final Class 4A NW Regional Finals game in the varsity girls’ division took place on Saturday night, as fourth-ranked Good Hope took on ninth-ranked Wilson. Good Hope jumped out to a quick lead and stretched it to double digits at the break. Behind a suffocating defense and balanced scoring by the Lady Raiders, they would go on to knock off the Lady Warriors 58-38 to advance to their third straight Final Four.
Wilson hit a basket down low for the first points of the game. Good Hope was held without a field goal for a little over two minutes to start out the game, but Ella Davis quickly changed all of that, as she collected back-to-back baskets off of back-to-back steals, and Ella Gossett dropped in a floater to give the Lady Raiders a 6-2 lead. Another basket by Davis and another floater by Gossett made it a 10-6 game late in the first. That would be the start of a 10-2 run by the Lady Raiders, which was made up of a steal and a layup by Sophie Konrad, a basket by Davis off of a great pass by Konrad and a Lucie Adams three from the left wing stretched their lead to 18-8. Davis knocked down a pair of free throws and Konrad added three of her own from the free throw line, as Good Hope took a 23-13 lead into the second.
Adams knocked down a floater and later found Lexi Marshall down low for two to give the Lady Raiders a 27-15 lead early in the second quarter. Konrad drilled three free throws to make it a 30-15 game late in the first half. Wilson knocked down four straight from the charity stripe to cut it to 30-19. Marshall drained a three from the left corner, and Konrad added a driving layup to put Good Hope ahead, 35-22. The Lady Raiders would take a 35-24 lead into the locker room.
It would be the battle of the defenses to start out the second half. The Lady Warriors cut it to 35-26 early in the third, but later in the quarter, Marshall laid it in off of a turnover and Adams drained a three from the right wing to give Good Hope a 40-27 lead. Wilson nailed a three to cut it to 40-30 with a little over three minutes to go in the third period. Marshall found Konrad in the left corner for a three to put the Lady Raiders ahead 43-30. The Lady Warriors put in a late basket to cut it to 43-32 going into the final period.
The strong defensive play by both teams continued into the fourth quarter. Neither team hit a basket for almost three minutes, but Marshall changed all of that, as she hit a three from the left corner and got fouled. She ended up hitting the free throw to complete the four-point play to widen Good Hope’s lead to 47-32 with a little over five minutes to go in the game. Gossett knocked down yet another floater, and Davis drilled a short jumper to make it a 51-34 contest. Davis, Gossett and Adams went a combined seven-for-eight from the charity stripe to put the finishing touches on a 58-38 win for the Lady Raiders, who clinched a spot in the Final Four for the third consecutive year.
Four Good Hope players finished in double figure scoring on the night. Davis put in 14 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Konrad collected 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Marshall finished with 12 points, three assists, and a pair of steals, and Adams finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, along with a steal.
Konrad was named Girls 4A NW Regional Tournament MVP, with Gossett and Marshall joining her on the All-Tournament team.
“We played a pretty emotional game here a couple of days ago against Deshler. We might not have necessarily played our best game, but it was enough to advance, and at this time of the year, that’s what it’s about. We just have to advance. We want to play one more game. There’s some big pieces as far as the other girls that contributed in this tournament: Ella Davis and Lucie Adams. I’m also proud of Lexi, Sophie, and Ella Gossett. They played a heck of a tournament, so we get to advance, which was one of our goals at the beginning of the year.” Aby said.
Junior Ella Gossett is happy to see the team make it back to Birmingham, and after making it to the Final Four the past two seasons, they want to use that as motivation to make it back to the title game.
“We know what it feels like to be there. We’ve been there the past two years, so we know what we have to do. We just use that as our motivation, and the feeling of being there, the electric atmosphere, it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s something that we all want to feel again, so we use that as our motivation to get back,” Gossett said.
Good Hope will play the Montgomery Catholic/Pleasant Grove winner next week in Birmingham with the date and time to be determined.
