At this time of year coaches want to see their teams peaking and playing their best basketball.
Jack Harris got a front row view of his team doing just that on Saturday.
Gainesville handled Summit rival Norwood for the third time this season, claiming the Class 2 – District 10 championship with a 64-24 win at Mansfield High School.
And, unlike the first two meetings, the Lady Bulldogs and senior guard Madison Strong dictated the tempo for 32 minutes.
Strong scored a game-high 24 points, 18 of which came in the first half, making it the fifth time this season that her individual scoring output was great than the opposing team's.
“What can you say about Madison,” said Harris. “They played her so tough in the first two games and really didn’t let her get to the basketball but she just had the extra step tonight. We adjusted our offense up top to help give her some more space and it did the trick because she was able to get inside their defense.”
Norwood struggled after losing leading scorer Jenna Ogletree early in the game to a leg injury, limiting the Lady Pirates high-low and inside-out effectiveness.
It also made it difficult for Norwood to match up with Gainesville's versatile front court. Michigan Jenkins and Scout Jeckstadt scored 12 and 10 respectively, adding balance to Strong's 24.
“My posts can do so many things,” said Harris. “Ogletree going down really set them back on their heels and they couldn’t recover; our girls did a good job of keeping them down. Michia put on a 3-point clinic tonight and then went in the post defensively and did well and even played in the high post in our offense and made some great decisions with the ball.”
Emily Chadwell scored six points to lead Norwood.
Up next for Gainesville is a date with Class 2 No. 4 Crocker. The Lady Lions beat Hartville 44-30 in the Class 2 – District 9 championship. Both teams have been state-ranked the entire season.
Both teams have also lost to Crane in the quarterfinals in the last three years.
“I watched them beat a really good Hartville team the other night,” said Harris. “Medlin and York are going to be a handful and Nancy does a really nice job of making adjustments. It won’t be easy, but the goal for both of us will be to see Crane in the quarterfinals.”
Gainesville 64, Norwood 24
Norwood 3-7-10-4 – 24
Gainesville 18-23-19-4 – 64
Norwood: E. Caldwell 6, McGraw 4, Nelson 4, S. McIntosh 4, E. McIntosh 4, M. Caldwell 2.
Gainesville: Strong 24, Jenkins 12, Jeckstadt 10, Ab. Britt 8, Noah 7, As. Britt 2, Meek 1.
