Just 15 seconds into the contest, Sequoyah Head Coach Dr. Rick Bragg called for a timeout, unhappy with his Lady Chiefs’ first couple of quick trips up the floor.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about is that Tori Rogers helps us more when she’s at the two guard or on the wing, and we want Madisen (Sunday) or Emily (Ryan) handling the basketball a lot more,” Bragg explained of his decision to burn the early timeout. “Against a good team like Northwest Whitfield that’s going to press us and get baskets off of turnovers, I just thought it was really important to get Tori down the floor. On our first couple of possessions, we forgot that.”
Bragg’s plan worked, as the Lady Chiefs broke down the Lady Bruins’ press en route to a 15-point opening frame—just the spark they needed to avenge a 25-point loss in Tunnel Hill two weeks prior with a 53-42 victory Friday night at the War Lodge in Hickory Flat.
(LEFT: Sequoyah freshman Tori Rogers drives with the ball as a Northwest Whitfield defender reaches in during Region 7AAAA action Friday night, in Hickory Flat. Rogers scored nine points in the contest, helping the Lady Chiefs to a 53-42 victory. Brandon Michea | Ledger-News)
“I thought we did a phenomenal job against their pressure defense,” Bragg said. “We had 38 or 39 turnovers when they beat us at their place, and we did a much better job [Friday].
“This is a big win for these kids. Beyond the fact that they beat us by 25 at their place, just with the reputation that Northwest has with their girls’ basketball program, it’s just a really good win for us.”
The sophomore Ryan paced the Lady Chiefs with a game-high 17 points, while junior post Maggie Hartman scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Leading by 10 at the break, Sequoyah extended its edge to 11, 29-18, when Rogers answered a Lady Bruins’ basket with her second three of the contest, early in the third.
Northwest, however, strung together its best run of the evening, outscoring the Lady Chiefs 8-2 over a 1:06 span to pull to within 31-26.
But starting with a Ryan three, Sequoyah scored 12 of the final 17 points in the third and hit 8-of-11 free throws in the fourth, never allowing the Lady Bruins to draw any closer than seven the rest of the way.
In addition to scoring output of Ryan and Hartman, Rogers finished with nine points, Sunday scored six, and Kierra Smith contributed a pair of key baskets during Sequoyah’s third-quarter run.
In their other two bouts for the week, the Lady Chiefs routed Cass, 66-31, Jan. 24, in Cartersville, and dropped a 50-36 decision to visiting Forsyth Central on Saturday.
Ryan charted a game-high 14 points against Cass, while Hartman finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Rogers went for 11 points, five assists and five steals.
Coming off Friday’s big win, Sequoyah came out flat on Saturday and fell behind 24-7 after one. Despite picking up their game the rest of the way—holding the Lady Bulldogs to 26 points the rest of the night—the deficit proved to be too much for the Lady Chiefs to overcome.
Ryan again led the way with 12 points. Kelsey Geiger added nine points, and Hartman finished with six points and 10 rebounds.
With two games remaining in its regular season – Friday vs. Rome (6 p.m.) and Saturday at Lambert (4 p.m.) – Sequoyah sits in a tie with Lambert (14-8, 8-4) for third in 7AAAA, behind Creekview (21-2, 13-0) and Rome (15-7, 10-1). Central (16-7) is a game back in the loss column at 8-5 in region play, while Chattahoochee (9-12, 6-6) sits in sixth. Remaining on Central’s schedule were South Forsyth (5-16, 1-10) and Lambert, while the third-place Lady Longhorns were to visit Chattahoochee (Jan. 31), before hosting Central on Friday and Sequoyah on Saturday.
