Jacksonville, AL – Huffman’s press and traps and adversity overwhelm Oxford girls in the Northeast Regional semifinals: ‘It’s hard for them to leave with that kind of attitude’
Joe Medley Joe Medley
It was a challenge to Melissa Bennett to look at her bench and see a sluggish junior Justice Woods, hands on head, training with an instructor. The process of pulling seniors LaMya McGrue and Keziah Mickler off with 54 seconds remaining during a long, grueling, and turnover-defiled 55-32 loss against Huffman on the Thursday’s Northeast Regional semifinals was about the most Bennett could do. She remained calm as they approached and wrapped her arms around them. “When you’re in a relationship with your kids and spend hours with them you’re not going to want to let them go,” Bennett said. “You certainly don’t want witness them leaving in that way.”
The conclusion to the reigning Class 6A state runner up was as a sudden dead end that was positioned following a blind turn. Huffman scored 57 points against Oxford’s 32, almost match the scoreboard. With Huffman’s endless long-distance and the pressure, Oxford (20-10) committed 34 mistakes. Huffman (26-4) has scored scores of points on mistakes in the same way that Oxford’s Yellow Jackets scored points while taking the chance to face Parker in the Tuesday 12:30 p.m. regional final. The pressure game is the one Huffman plays.
“That’s certainly the bread we eat,” Huffman coach Lin Slater told reporters. “I advised the girls before the game that we’re going to follow the same way that we’ve played all season long. …. “We are a part the defense. Defense is what keeps the team moving.” Oxford began to deal with the pressing problem during the second quarter, but was unable to take on Huffman’s constant, suffocating halfcourt traps. It was enough of a challenge for the ball handlers of their day like guards Woods as well as McGrue as well as the swing Xai Whitfield. They made 19 turnovers. Jamea Gaston, who is 5-foot-2 shooting guard, was battling struggled twice. “I was shocked to see the length of their struggles,” she told reporters. “For me, I’m short. I’m unable to see above them. If I were stuck or something else I couldn’t really discern.” It wasn’t helping when Woods was into foul danger. She was slapped with her third foul in the 2:53 in the second quarter and sat down to prevent having her fourth one before halftime.
From then on the game started to show the scoreboard in the same way it appeared like it was played on court. Oxford was leading 15-10 after an uncontested Whitfield shot at 4:05 however Huffman finished the quarter on an 14-0 run to take the lead 24-15 at the half. Oxford changed to the press and started in the 3rd quarter on a quick increase. A Gaston three and a Woods layup trimmed that gap, which was 24-20. “We made a huge move in the press break” Bennett said. “When we’d get there and then, it made it simpler to take it off their presses.
“We weren’t always able to get into it as fast as we’d like to.” After a short increase in momentum after the brief surge, they Yellow Jackets reached the blind curve and then the dead-end. Huffman was leading 45-22 at the close three. [read more…]
