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For the third straight year, the Thomasville Lady Bulldogs were put in the line of fire against Bishop McGuinness, and once again came up on the wrong end. This time the Lady Villains built a sound 31-20 lead at the half, and held off a furious charge by Thomasville late to claim a hard-fought 60-51 win Friday night at Thomasville. The two-time defending NCHSAA 1-A state champions advance to the regionals next weekend, while the Lady Bulldogs are left at home once again.
“They never quit and I am proud of them,” said Thomasville coach Lacardo Means. “In my eyes they are winners.”
At times the game began to get out of hand with Bishop building as much as a 38-20 lead with 4:20 to go in the third quarter. That is when Thomasville made a last-ditch effort to preserve its championship quest.
A trio of buckets from Sharae Alford, Tianna Hall and Christina Carter put the home team back in contention at 38-26. They soon got it down to 10 just before the fourth, but a pair of tosses from Megan Rumbulak had the Villains back ahead by 12.
Senior forward Secily Ray had her game stymied by a box-and-one defense throughout much of the third, but she came to play when needed in the fourth. Her seven points in the opening moments cut the lead to 49-41, as the crowd’s on both sides rose to their feet. Hall assisted in the surge with a 3, dish in the lane to Alford and take to the basket to pull Thomasville back within four, 55-51, but the Lady Villains had the answer once more as they had all night.
Freshman Whitney Knight was a force with her length in the final moments, scoring key baskets and blocking shots. That, along with solid shooting at the line was enough to catapult the Villains into the next round. Knight finished with just nine points, but what she had going on outside of the game is what made it all the more special. Her father will be shipped out to Iraq on Sunday, and he was in attendance to see her one last time.
“For a freshman, that was pretty incredible,” said Bishop coach Brian Robinson. “She wanted to play well for her dad, and I know it meant a lot to her to play well. I am very, very proud of her.”
Means had to catch himself after the game, visibly shaken in believing he was on the wrong end of foul calls that went against his team. But he was nothing but complimentary to a deserving team.
“That is a very good team, because if you beat my team, you have a good team,” he said.
Still, even with the officials not helping his cause, Means saw his ladies go down with a fight and he couldn’t be more pleased with their drive.
“It looked at one time they were just going to run and hide from us, but we got the people up out of their seats,” said Means. “It was a great run we had.”
Ray ended her Thomasville career with 18 points and Hall tallied 10 for the 22-4 Bulldogs. Erinn Thompson led the Villains with 15 and Brittany Cox had 14.