The Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bulldoggs stormed out of the starting gate Tuesday night against county rival Apalachee in the opening round of the Region 8-AAAA tournament and then held off a second half rally by the Lady Wildcats to advance.
Coach Brenda Hill’s squad recorded a 61-47 victory to advance to Friday’s second round contest against Loganville at 7 p.m. That game, as will all remaining region tournament contests, will be at WBHS.
Mimi Hill scored 22 points to lead the Lady Bulldoggs Tuesday night who were actually playing in Apalachee’s gym. WBHS raced out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter but the AHS Lady Wildcats regrouped and made a run pulling to within 28-20 by halftime.
“They are competitive and I knew they were going to make a run at us,” said Coach Hill. “We were just going to try and contain them and do what we could do to get by them. I was concerned about us starting fast and then being able to sustain that run because I knew they would have one of their own.”
Apalachee actually got to within four points at the 5:28 mark of the third quarter after a basket by Kelsey Montgomery, who also scored 22 points. However, the early deficit the Lady Wildcats found themselves in proved to be too much to dig out of.
“We worked hard and tried the best we could,” said AHS coach Michael Parks. “We always seem to need one big basket. We had too many missed free throws and layups. Shooting all the way around has been our issue all season. It is something we are going to have to work on this summer.”
WBHS had moved back in front 41-29 by the end of the third quarter and on its way to a 14-point win.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season,” Hill said after the game. “Free throw shooting was very important for us in the second half. We even worked on free throws earlier this afternoon.”
Lauren Hamel added 12 points for the Lady Doggs while Brittany Witt and Shant Finch both added seven.
LaCresha Mayweather scored seven points for AHS with Amanda Hamilton scoring six, all from the free throw line.
Hill will now prepare for team for Loganville whom she describes as “very athletic.”
“They will press and jump after you,” the WBHS coach said. “They are a balanced team.”
