Despite being state runner-ups last season and heading into the playoffs with a perfect record, few people across the state knew just how good the Redan Lady Raiders were. But after their dominating performance over Marietta in the Class 5A Championship Game, it is not hard to tell that Redan is Georgia’s top girls basketball team. The Lady Raiders topped the Lady Blue Devils 64-40 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Friday night to become champions. “We worked extremely hard. People haven’t noticed us like they should have, but now they see we are the team, Redan High School, 27-0,” said Lady Raider head coach Rhonda Malone.
Redan used its aggressiveness to its advantage early on, as the Lady Raiders scored the first nine points of the game. Redan’s pressure defense made the Lady Blue Devils work for everything they were going to get. “We turned up the pressure on them,” Malone said. “We started pressing the ball, trying to stop their guard play. And also, [Telia McCall], we stopped her on the inside. She got in foul trouble early and we started taking the ball to her.”
The Marietta forward, McCall, picked up her second foul with 5:00 left to play in the second quarter and Redan already up 25-11, and picked up foul number three with 3:28 left and the Lady Raiders up 28-13. McCall would sit on the bench for the remainder of the half and Redan led 34-17 at the intermission. “I think she got into foul trouble because she was tentative out there,” Sprague said. “She wasn’t being aggressive. When she’s aggressive, she doesn’t get into foul trouble.”
When the Lady Blue Devils tried to be aggressive, turning to their trademark pressure defense, the Lady Raiders had an answer for that as well. Redan guards Alisha Andrews and MacKenzie Dalrymple beat the Marietta press with the pass, allowing forwards Nia Evans and Aneesah Daniels to finish under the basket and wings Quortni Fambro and Kierra Paige to knock down open 3-pointers. “My guards did an excellent job of bringing the ball up the court,” Malone said. “Execution was the key, as well as defense.”
Fambro led Redan with 18 points and Evans added 17. Brittany White led the Lady Blue Devils with eight points and McCall finished with seven after fouling out in the third quarter. “We could have played better, but they beat us,” Sprague said. “You have to give them credit. They actually took the game. We were out there, but they wanted to win the game.”
“Seven years in a row,” he continued. “Seven years in a row we beat everybody until we run into the No. 1’s.”
This No. 1 team only had five games decided by single digits the whole season. “The girls played extremely hard, disciplined, listening and doing everything that we needed to do,” Malone said. “They’ve been doing this all year long.”
That attitude was set after the Lady Raiders lost to Stephenson in the 2008 finals. “I was telling my teammates I’m going to come in with a great attitude, so you’ve all got to do the same,” Andrews said about moving on after the championship loss.
Just a few minutes removed from winning the finals this time around, and Redan was similarly optimistic about 2010. “We’re coming back next year,” Malone said. “I’m losing two seniors, Quortni Fambro and I’m also losing Delia Brunson, but we’ll be back.”
When next season rolls around, the Lady Raiders should be considered the No. 1 team from the start.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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