The Lady Colonels Drop a Heartbreaker 72-46
The Lady Colonels fell to 4th ranked Southwest Dekalb 72-46 in the second round, sweet 16 of the Class 5A State Tournament on Friday, February 26th.
The Lady Colonels fought hard for four quarters but came up just short in the contest. The Lady Colonels were outrebounded by the Panther 54-23 in the game. The Lady Colonels trailed after the first quarter by a score of 18-10. They headed into halftime with a steep hill to climb as the Panthers went on a 24-7 run to push the halftime score to 42-17. Cass Senior Londaisha Smith yelled out, “Let’s go out with a bang.” at halftime. That halftime lead was insurmountable for the Colonels but that didn’t stop them from continuing to play their hearts out. In fact, the Lady Colonels outscored the Lady Panthers 10-9 in the final quarter. In a postgame interview Coach Burt Jackson stated, “I love the fact that we didn’t quit. I loved our energy. I loved the way we were all cheering for each other. I hate losing but it’s nice knowing that we didn’t quit.”
For the Southwest Dekalb Panthers, Lauryn Bell had 15 points, Adrieanna Brownlee scored 14 points along with 15 rebounds. Pryia Thompson scored 14 points and 12 rebounds on the night while Taylor Christmas pitched in with 13 points and six boards.
For the Lady Colonels, Senior Londaisha Smith led the way by scoring 20 points in the matchup. Claire Davis pitched in with 8 points as she was the only other Cass player to score over 6 points in the game.
Coach Burt Jackson stated, “I feel humbled, honored, and blessed to have been this team’s coach. I’ll always look back and thank God for the opportunity I had to coach this group of girls.” The Lady Colonels had one heck of a season. The Lady Colonels reached many outstanding milestones and achievements this season. The Lady Colonels won their first 24 games of the 2020-21 season to complete an undefeated regular season. The Lady Colonels also finished as runner-up in the Region 7-AAAAA tournament and received a birth in state tournament. After Friday night’s Sweet Sixteen round loss to the Lady Panthers of Southwest Dekalb, the Lady Colonels finished the season with an impressive 25-2 record.
