DALTON, Ga. – Eddie Bryant doesn’t mind the streaks his girls are prone to endure in their basketball games – as long as there are more good ones than bad.
Bryant’s Heritage Lady Generals had two strong streaks Thursday night in a 61-39 win over Cartersville in the Region 7-AAAA tournament. They were more than enough to send the team to the semifinals and to the state tournament.
The first good run came just before halftime when Bryant noticed his team was rather passive on defense. With a 24-23 lead over the pesky Purple Hurricanes, the coach switched defenses, seemingly waking his team and spurring an 8-0 run to end the half.
“We just came out kind of flat,” said Bryant, whose program has now reached the state playoffs in three consecutive seasons. “We had been in a zone, but once we switched to man it seemed to work.
“This was a tough one because we had to win it to make the state and we had beaten them twice this year. They’re athletic and big and it’s tough to rebound with them, but the girls did a nice job.”