LeFlore overwhelms Lady Patriots in Final

LeFlore ran away with an 80-65 victory over Homewood in the Class 6A Girls State Final on Saturday afternoon at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

“It was just our turn. In order to beat the champion, you have to beat the defending champion, and we did,” LeFlore head coach Darrell Walton said.

Homewood (27-7) struggled shooting all day, especially in the first half, as the Lady Patriots made just 18% (4-22) of their shots in the first quarter.

LeFlore (35-0), on the other hand, hit 53% of its shot attempts in the first half, as Japonica James and Jaz Hill stole the show.

Hill hit three three-pointers in a span of one minute, two seconds late in the second quarter to blow open the contest after the Lady Patriots closed the gap to six. LeFlore's seven-point lead after a quarter ballooned to a 39-22 advantage at halftime.

“When you let a good shooter get into a rhythm, it’s going to be difficult. You have to key in on them and not lose them,” said Ward.

James was phenomenal, with 23 points and 16 rebounds in the game. Homewood tried anything and everything to defend her, but she continued to make waves.

“She’s not like anybody else I’ve played,” Homewood’s Tori Webb said. “She’s a really good ball-handler and can make her shot.”

The Rattlers put Hill (27 points), James (23), and Daisha Bradford (20) all at the 20-point mark in the game.

“Momentum was definitely something that swung in their favor when they were able to hit a few shots,” Ward said. “For us, that created a few problems, losing shooters every now and then, and them making open shots.”

Homewood started the game with a full court press, but LeFlore was able to break it with regularity and got easy baskets off of it.

“We saw them throughout the year and didn’t see them get pressed a whole lot,” Ward said. “That was something we wanted to do. We wanted to speed them up, because that’s just how we play. We like to press. We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel or anything. We continued to do what we did all year.”

Webb scored seven points in the first quarter, and was unbelievable for Homewood. She finished the season with a 16-point, 18-rebound performance.

Ajah Wayne got hurt midway through the second quarter. She returned briefly but was unable to continue, and her absence took an emotional toll along with the loss of her on-court talent.

“This is a really close team, so for them to kind of see one of their besties go down, it was a little tough for them. It was difficult emotionally to push through,” Ward said. “A large part of what we do involves Ajah Wayne.”

Shelby Hardy was equal parts as impressive as Webb, as the two combined to have a valiant showing. Hardy also notched a double-double, with 14 points and 12 boards.

LeFlore blocked seven shots in the first half.

Hannah Barber hit consecutive threes in the third quarter, and a strong second half made her the Lady Patriots’ leading scorer with 22 points, including four made three-point shots.

After winning the state title in 2015, Homewood fell short in its attempt at a repeat, with largely the same roster. The Lady Patriots will be in much the same boat next season, as there are no seniors to say goodbye to.

Now that they have experienced both sides of the state championship game, there is motivation to avoid the negative outcome next year.

“Since we know how it feels this year, we’re going to work every single day as hard as we can each and every day to make sure we don’t feel this again,” Barber said.

Homewood’s season ends, but that does not diminish a great campaign on the hardwood. The red trophy will sting for a time, but it is ultimately nothing to turn one’s nose up at.

“I told them we have absolutely nothing to hang our heads about. We had a great season,” Ward concluded.