Bigger school tough match for Alba-Golden

Posted 12/17/20

The game of basketball is a game of space. It is played in three dimensions: the vertical, the horizontal and the Z-axis.

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Bigger school tough match for Alba-Golden

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The game of basketball is a game of space. It is played in three dimensions: the vertical, the horizontal and the Z-axis. Given that the game is played with ten players moving on the court at the same time, control of the space in these dimensions is momentary and fluid. Dominance of any one of these spaces practically assures victory.

This was the case in the Alba-Golden Lady Panthers’ 51-32 loss at Kilgore last Friday. The height advantage of the Kilgore side nearly dominated the vertical dimension of the game. 

Kilgore leveraged their significant height advantage by scoring most of their points from inside the paint. They also exploited the Alba-Golden zone press by advancing the ball up the court through vertically-oriented passing. The Lady Panthers were forced to abandon their press after the first quarter. 

The effect of playing against tall competition has challenges which are hard to prepare for. A good example of this is when trying to set defensively to take a charge while defending the basket. The length of a tall player requires setting the feet in a defensive position much further away from the basket than usual. 

This and many other details of the game are hugely impacted by playing tall opponents. 

The game featured three notable characteristics: the Lady Bulldogs vertical game, the outstanding Alba-Golden backcourt performance and Alba-Golden’s woeful shooting percentage from the field. 

A bad shooting night happens. It is inevitable and a part of the game. It is a good thing to get it out of the way early in the season. Had the Lady Panthers had even an average shooting night, they likely would have come home with a win. As it was however, the shots that they needed to challenge the lead never fell, at all, last Friday.

Fighting through the game conditions, it was the Alba-Golden backcourt combination of Bella Crawford and Cacie Lennon which kept the Lady Panthers in the game until late and gave the team the ability to believe in overcoming challenges. 

The two had an amazing night on the defensive end, repeatedly nicking the ball away from the opposing guards and usually finishing with a lay-up for a score. At one point Kilgore began to routinely pass the ball away when either of them began to advance defensively. The pair of Lady Panthers simply would not be beaten on the dribble.

There were other bright spots as well. Alba-Golden generated plenty of open shots in the first three quarters while operating against the Kilgore man-to-man defense. They also got good work done inside by Hannah and Kalli Wright once Kilgore went to a fourth-quarter zone. 

And, of course, it is an Alba-Golden team, which means that they never stop. Autumn Whitten’s efforts late in the game to get to the basket are testament to that. 

The Lady Panthers closed the score to 20-15 with a Crawford steal and Lennon follow-up to open the third quarter. A strong Hannah Wright drive later closed the score to 32-28 in the final quarter.

The game simply melted away after that Wright score. Kilgore finished on three significant scoring runs to record a sizable win. 

Bella Crawford led the Alba-Golden scorers with 12 points. Joining her on the scoresheet were Lennon, Whitten, Hannah Wright and Kalli Wright.