Lady Warriors stun West Greene in opening round of tourney play
Published 1:14 pm Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Lady Warriors’ Bailee Jarrett (10) looks for an open teammate.
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Cayden Anderson (22) of the Lady Warriors goes around a defender to break the press put on by the Lady Buffs.
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Shaniece Gardner (33) goes up strong for two points for the Lady Warriors.
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Lady Warriors’ Shaniece Gardner (33) gets in position for a rebound.
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Shaniece Gardner (33) drives the lane for a basket for the Lady Warriors.
Mike Hynes/Star Correspondent Cayden Anderson (22) of the Lady Warriors drives to the basket for two points.
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By Ron Marvel
Star Correspondent
The last two times the Lady Warriors and Lady Buffs of West Greene met, both had similar outcomes—methodical pull-away wins for the Buffs in games that weren’t very close. It would have been easy to pick West Greene in the opening round of the Region 1-2A playoffs. The Lady Warriors had different ideas and can now pencil their name into the semifinal game against Chuckey-Doak on Thursday night.
The Lady Warriors were able to dictate pace from the onset and slowed things down. “We changed some things up defensively and cleaned up some things,” head coach Dana Hill shared.
As was the case much of the game, senior Lady Warriors guard Cayden Anderson played with a level of aggression that helped open up her teammates and also sent her to the charity stripe a total of 14 times. Shaniece Gardner knocked down two free throws in the final minute of the first period, and the Lady Warriors clung to a one-point first-period lead.
The second period saw more back-and-forth action. The Buffs went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead, but the Lady Warriors responded. Alex Moore finished off the old-fashioned three-point play at the 3:13 mark, and in the closing minute, Josephine Zeoli hit a huge three-pointer from the bottom of the arc to give the Lady Warriors an 18-15 lead going into the break.
Neither team could create much offense in the third period. Gardner grabbed her own miss and got the putback to push the Warriors’ lead to five at the 4:20 mark, and Zeoli hit a short jumper in the lane at the 1:19 mark. The Warriors nursed a four-point lead going into the final frame.
Defensively, the Warriors continued to play well in the half-court as the Buffs struggled to find rhythm. They cut the lead to four at 31-27 with 4:41 left, but the Warriors held the Lady Buffs to just one more point for the rest of the game. Zeoli hit another huge three-pointer at the 4:16 mark, and going down the stretch, Anderson made her final nine free throws to seal the game.
The Warriors held the Lady Buffs’ top scorer, Morgan Brown, to just seven points. The game was also marked by the absence of the Lady Buffs’ other top scorer, sophomore forward Joie Shipley. Her absence allowed the Lady Warriors to hold a 22-19 advantage in rebounding.
However, none of that takes away from the tremendous effort by the Lady Warriors. Their triangle defense gave the Lady Buffs fits, and they did the one thing you have to do this time of year—take care of the ball. Anderson finished the game with 19 points, Gardner chipped in nine, and Zeoli added eight.
“I’m proud of the girls’ efforts tonight. The kids played well. We were able to make our free throws down the stretch to nail it down. Cayden went 9 of 10 from the foul line in the fourth period. As a senior, to see her step up there was good,” Coach Hill stated.
