Fort Dale girls advance to state
Anna Blake Langford, 3rd from left, and Lucy Bates, far right, received awards after the AISHA regional tournament hosted by Fort Dale Academy. (Bruce Branum/The Standard)
Madison Ann Gaston shoots a hook for two against Lakeside. (Bruce Branum/The Standard)
BRUCE BRANUM/THE GREENVILLE STANDARD
The Fort Dale Academy Lady Eagle’s basketball team is advancing to the AISHA state tournament after placing second in the region tournament, held at FDA, this past weekend.
After finishing the regular season with a record of 19-4, the Lady Eagles faced off against Pike Liberal Arts Patriots on Friday, Jan. 27 in the first round of games for the tourney. The Eagles got a slow start and trailed in the first quarter 9-8 but quickly took control and by half the score was 22-13, FDA.
They never looked back and increased their lead to 10 by the end of the third quarter. By the end of the game the Lady Eagles increased their lead to 13 and won 41-28 over the Patriots.
Leading scorer was Anna Blake Langford with 19 points, followed by Lucy Bates with 10 and Madison Ann Gaston with 8. Gaston led in rebounds with 9, Bates followed with 7.
With just a night’s rest, the Lady Eagles took on the Lakeside Academy Chiefs at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Again, FDA got a slow start and trailed at the end of the first quarter 10-8. They quickly recouped and dashed ahead of Lakeside by 6 points to close the first half with a score of 24-18.
The Lady Eagles just couldn’t manage to distance themselves from the Chiefs and the score at the end of the third quarter was 36-30. As the fourth quarter time dwindled, so did the Eagle’s lead. Lakeside began a full court press and turnovers along with foul troubles cost FDA the lead in the waning minutes of the game. The Eagles couldn’t recover and lost a heartbreaker 56-52.
Leading scorer for the FDA was Anna Blake Langford with 23 points, followed by Lucy Bates with 12 and Madison Ann Gaston with 10. Bates led in rebounds with 19 and Gaston followed with 8.
The Eagle boys did not fare so well in their first round region playoff game against Lakeside, losing 59-30 on Thursday. Luke Taylor led the team with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Michal LeCoq followed with 6 points and 5 rebounds.
The Lady Eagles will face the Springwood Wildcats Thursday Feb. 2 at 12 p.m. in the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. If they win, FDA will advance to the final four and play Saturday Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. The Championship game is set for Monday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.
