Dateline: February 27, 2003

Lady Owls focus on championship

By Roger Estlack and Tangela Copelin, Clarendon Enterprise

The Hedley Lady Owls will make their first trip to the state basketball tournament Thursday following a string of wins which has left several tough opponents behind.

Hedley will face Priddy at 8:30 a.m. on February 27 in the Erwin Center in Austin to battle it out for the Class A, Division II State Championship, and Coach Kenneth Housden says his players are excited about going to Austin, a goal they narrowly missed last year.

“It’s something you dream of doing – both players and coaches alike,” Housden said, who is in his seventh year at Hedley. “It takes a lot of luck, and you make your own luck. You have to stay focused and stay injury free.”

The Lady Owls will be working on their inside game to prepare for their Division II rivals.

“Priddy has a super ball club,” Housden said. “They’ve got a girl who is six feet tall and a state class jumper. They’ve got another player who averages 26 points a game.”

Hedley’s journey to Austin was propelled by three big wins last week, one of which was defeating the Gordon Lady Longhorns last Saturday in Levelland to become the Division II finalists.

The game in the Texan Dome got off to a fast start with Hedley scoring the first points of the game before Gordon made a comeback toward the end of the first quarter. But senior Lauren Hill sank a field goal in the last seconds of the quarter to tie the game, 14-14.

The Lady Owls continued their signature pressure defense to take a 34-30 halftime lead.

“That’s been a key thing for us all season,” Housden said. “A lot of teams are not used to having to work that hard to get to the other end of the court.”

Hedley also relies on a strong bench that can step up to a variety of playing conditions.

“We’ve got (sophomore) Sarah Bolin, (junior) Treva Rowland, and (junior) Brittney Bennett who can come in and help. Some are more used to playing outside, some more used to playing inside. It just depends on the situation and what we need.”

The Lady Owls’ accuracy from the free-throw line is another weapon in their arsenal, a factor which added 24 points for Hedley on Saturday. Hill nailed 12 of 12 free throws, junior Rebekah Howard hit eight of nine, Bolin sank two of two, and junior Haley Bennett got two of three.

“We hit 89 percent on free throws,” Housden said. “That’s the best we’ve hit all year. We’re usually in the 70s.”

A flurry of buckets in the opening of the fourth quarter helped seal the fate of the Lady Longhorns as Hedley cruised to the win, 66-51.

Hill led all scorers with 21 points, and Howard was right behind her with 20. Also scoring were Kasi Woodard 8, Bolin 6, Haley Bennett 6, and Sealey Stevens 5.

In a win or go home situation on Friday of last week, the Lady Owls overcame one of their toughest opponents to date when they beat the Happy Cowgirls, 51-40.

“They had the best athletes of anyone we’ve played all year,” said Housden. “We’ve beaten them the last two years.”

The two teams fought a close match in a game in Levelland that left many Lady Owl fans holding their breath. Happy was ranked number two in the state, but they succumbed to the number one ranked girls from Hedley.

Scoring were Hill 18, Howard 11, H. Bennett 10, Stevens 9, Woodard 4, and B. Bennett 1.

Hedley also posted a big 87-60 win over the girls from Spur last Tuesday in Floydada.

Stevens led all scorers with 24 points. Also scoring were Howard 18, Hill 15, H. Bennett 12, Woodard 8, Rowland 6, B. Bennett 6, and Lacey Wallendorff 2.

The Lady Owls’ appearance in Austin will be the first trip to state for a girls team from Hedley. The boys have been three times but have never brought home the championship.

If Hedley wins Thursday, they will play the state champion of the Division I category on Saturday for the Texas Cup. Game results will be posted on www.ClarendonOnline.com.