Despite a slow start offensively, the GMC Prep Lady Bulldogs took down the Lake Oconee Academy Titans 50-39 Saturday night.
“We have a bad habit of starting certain games slow,” said Lady Dogs head coach Shawn Dennis. “I’m not sure if it’s that we’re not warmed up or if we’re just not ready to play, but a lot of games this season we’ve started off slow. It’s only come back to bite us in the butt one time so far, but it had a lot to do with Lake Oconee. They’re a good team, and they’ve been getting better over the course of the season, and they played well.”
As the first quarter wound down, the Lady Dogs trailed LOA 7-2. But following two quick Cade Bass 3-pointers, GMC quickly seized momentum and outscored the Lady Titans 10-5 to end the quarter with a 12-10 advantage.
“[Cade Bass] has been important all season. She’s our best shooter, and when she gets an open look, she’s more often than not going to knock it down,” said Dennis. “That kind of forces teams to have to come out on us and space the floor and then our slashers can attack the basket.”
On the night, Bass led the Lady Dogs offensively as she posted 15 points.
In the second quarter, the Lady Dogs found their stride and eventually extended their lead to 24-19 at the half.
In the quarter, GMC opted to abandon its full-court pressure as they backed into a suffocating 3-2 zone that gave LOA trouble offensively.
“We looked a little tired, and they were doing a pretty decent job of breaking [our pressure],” said Dennis. “But I figured in our half-court defense, we were doing our job, and when we got rebounds we were able to push the ball, so we didn’t have to pressure them.”
Following the halftime break, GMC’s half-court defense continued to stifle the Lady Titans, as they held LOA to its lowest-scoring quarter of the game.
“The message at halftime was to win the quarter. I don’t really like to talk about the future, but we had a talk about potentially hosting the region tournament here,” said Dennis. “We talked about that, and we came out a little more inspired to play.”
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Titans tried to make one final run, but GMC’s offense was able to keep pace and outscore LOA 15-13 to seal the victory. Bass, along with Cire Foston, were key contributors for the Lady Dogs down the stretch, as they combined for eight of the Lady Dogs’ points in the quarter.
With Saturday’s win now in the books, Dennis said his team enters the final week of the regular season in a position to control their own destiny as the region tournament draws near. Currently, GMC has a two-game lead in the race for a sub-region title and the right to host the region tournament.
“We all have the goal of wanting to win the region, and if we’re the No. 1 seed on our side we would host it here,” Dennis said.
The Lady Dogs are back in action on the road tomorrow night, as they take on Hancock Central. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Sparta.
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