McDowell 80 Freedom 59

What can I say? A simply beautiful effort by the Lady Titans. They even rebounded with a vengeance. Fantastic Job!

Now, Reynolds!

 

No doubt who the better team was tonight. 24-8 at the end of the first period, Freedom answered by trimmimg the lead to nine at the half. McDowell took over in the 2nd half. But all in all, there was no doubt in that game. Freedom got took to their own woodshed...

Emily Lovik 20 points
Akendra Brown 14 points
Anna Atkinson 12 points
Patrice Smith 10 points

 

That score is surprising. I would have thought the game would have been closer than that. What did Tate and Barrier score? Who scored for Freedom? Please give some highlights of the game.

 

What can I say, the lady Pats looked confused most of the night. Loftin was just as confused and the girls got away with stuff Jamie Smith and Marsha Crump would've NEVER accepted in their basketball teams. Overall the team was lazy, the passes were lazy resulting in a ton of turnovers, rebounding was almost non-existant, and neither Barrier or Tate tried to take over the game for the Pats, in fact I don't think I ever remember them being as invisible as they were last night. About the only player that impressed me much was the freshman, Morrison I think was her name. The longer she was in the game, the more confidence she built and she was trying to take over at the end of the game even though it was too late. The team could not beat McD's traps and Atkinson's loose pressure was just too much for the Pats to handle and Loftin never could figure that one out and Silver ran it all night long. Good job McD. Our girls are lucky the score wasn't worse. As it was, they just about got run out of their own gym.

I saw the East Burke people there last night and they have to be licking their chops at what they saw.

 

I drove down to Freedom last night expecting another classic nail biter and was surprized at the poor play of the lady patroits. I have to say if Tate is Wake Forest Material than Atkinson has to be headed to carolina or duke.

 

Tara Tate IS good Tony, make no mistake about that, and she is as good as any other player in the conference and better than most. But for whatever reason last night was not a good game for her or Leah Barrier. I have seen either, and both, completely take over a game, but for some reason last night wasn't one of them. There were flashes when Atkinson couldn't handle her, but overall, the heart didn't seem to be there. I'd love to see a one-on-one with Tate and Atkinson. THAT would be a game, because if Tara is on, I honestly believe she'd eat Atkinson's lunch. Last night though, the switch didn't seem to be on. Maybe the game at your place will be different. I certainly hope so, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

 

Tate and Atkinson

I didn't say tate wasn't good. And yes she might handle atkinson one on one but lets compare the assists and team play of the two.Look at McCants of the tar heels,He's a great one on one player who can kill his team when he plays that way. I've seen atkinson give up scoring chances all her carrer just to keep her entire taem involved in the game.last night on many occasions there were lady patriots open under the basket while tate was dribbling around the key looking for barrier.

 

I totally agree with you.

 

Let me chime in on this conversation...

Tate is indeed a good player, but for the 2nd season in a row she is playing, in reality, out of position. Tate was her most dangerous three seasons ago when she had a good point guard to distribute the ball to her. Now, she's in a position to where she has to handle the ball more coming up the court. The four years I have seen her play, on quite a few occasions, Tara has a hard time when faced with defensive pressure. When faced with that defensive pressure, Tara runs down court and throws up a shot which either goes in or misses badly. When Tara is able to play her natural position, the quickness of a forward is not as bad as the quickness of a guard, as a result, she can either hit the open jump shot or drive the baseline.

I also think in general the same can be said for Leah Barrier. She's not fast enough to play a guard position, but would be perfect playing the wing forward position.

 

Tate had 26, but Freedom had no clue on how to handle Mcdowell's DEFENSE. Mcdowell is the best coached team I have seen this season.