By Lee Davis
The game lasted four quarters, but Homewood’s hopes of repeating as Class 6A girls basketball champions may have suffered a fatal blow in the second period of the championship final against LeFlore last Saturday.
Standout sophomore forward Ajah Wayne suffered an injury in the second period, and while she made a brief comeback, the Lady Patriots never did.
Homewood fell to the Rattlers 80-65 in the Class 6A finals at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena, denying Coach JoVanka Ward’s team a second consecutive title.
“This is a great young team,” Ward said after the game. “We feel very blessed and fortunate to have made it this far. The top concern for our girls now is the health and well-being of one of their teammates (Wayne). They are really close and to see one player go down was tough.”
LeFlore moved to a 39-22 halftime lead and was never seriously challenged. At one time the Rattlers enjoyed a 28-point advantage.
The Lady Patriots had their bright spots. All-state guard Hannah Barber led the scoring with 22-points, including four three-pointers. Tori Webb had 16 points and 18 rebounds and Shelby Hardy had 14 points and 12 boards.
Homewood finished the season with a 27-7 mark and the best news is that every player on the roster will return next season. “I’m really proud of these girls,” Ward said. “They fought hard the entire year and they’ll be ready to go when it’s time to get cranking again.”
In Thursday’s 6A semi-final, the Lady Patriots routed Huffman 69-41. Turnaround was fair play, as the Lady Vikings had beaten Homewood by 14 points in the regular season. Cold shooting by Homewood helped Huffman move to an early 5-0 lead, but Ward didn’t get any sense of déjà vu.
“We remained confident and didn’t worry about what happened in the previous meeting,” she said. “We wanted to set the tempo and execute. Our girls kept playing their game and things came into place.”
The big story in the win may have been the play of Homewood’s defense. The Lady Patriots held Huffman’s Shaforia Kines – who averages 16 points per game – to six points. The Vikings shot an anemic 25 percent from the field for the afternoon.
“We watched a lot of film on her so we were prepared,” Barber said. “Kalia (Cunningham) and Ajah did a good job on her and we went straight at her offensively.”
Wayne paced Homewood with 19 points and four rebounds. She also contributed six steals, two blocks and an assist. Barber scored 18 points, including four three-pointers, and Tori Webb had 15 points and nine rebounds.
“We had a good week of preparation,” Barber said. “It didn’t faze us when we got behind early. I think the experience of playing in the Final Four last year really helped us.”
Barber, a prolific three-point shooter, said that adjusting to the unique perspective of shooting at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena – as opposed to a typical high school gymnasium – wasn’t a problem.
“It takes a few minutes to get used to it, but after that it’s not a problem,” she said. “At the end, it’s just about concentration and accuracy.”
Those traits, along with hustle and determination, took the Lady Patriots a long way in 2015-16. But against LeFlore, they weren’t quite enough.
