More unlikely than their playoff run to reach the state tournament final four is the fact that shopping and hanging out at the mall has become tedious, even for a group of teenage girls.
The Baylor girls’ basketball team left for what was expected to be a two-day trip to Memphis to play a Division II state quarterfinal game. But the combination of winter weather conditions, school closings and a road win has meant the Lady Red Raiders still haven’t returned home.
“A lot of us only packed for a one-day trip,” said Baylor junior point guard Kaleigh Clemons. “It’s been pretty hectic but we’ve handled it as well as we could. Believe it or not, we’re all tired of going to the mall to walk around, but there’s nothing else to do really. And since we don’t know how much longer we’ll be away, none of us can afford to spend any money at the mall, so we just wind up walking around.
“The worst part has been the travel. It tires you out just riding so much, and everyone’s exhausted. We sleep a lot or watch Netflix a lot, and other than that we try to find ways not to be bored. In a weird way, though, I think it’s brought us closer together because we know we’re all in this together.”
After beating Pope John Paul II in the regular-season finale to earn a first-round bye, Baylor then had 11 days off because of a combination of winter break and wintry conditions that moved their state quarterfinal game at St. Benedict near Memphis back twice.
That game was changed from its originally schedule tipoff last Friday, then rescheduled again Monday because of more bad weather, meaning the Lady Red Raiders drove six hours on Sunday for a game they didn’t play until Tuesday night.
Following Tuesday night’s 55-48 win at St. Benedict, Baylor coaches decided to stay in Nashville to prepare for today’s 11 a.m. semifinal against Brentwood Academy at Lipscomb University rather than return home.
“It just made no sense to drive all the way back, six hours, and risk not being able to get over Monteagle Mountain with the snow, so we just decided to tough it out another couple of days,” Baylor coach John Gibson said. “It’s been interesting, to say the least.
“We’ve walked around several malls in Jackson, Memphis and Nashville just to get out and stretch our legs because there’s really nothing else to do. We wanted to take them to a movie on Monday, but Jackson’s theaters didn’t have matinees, so we wound up just going to Wal-Mart to walk around and shop for extra clothes.”
The players and coaches did their laundry at Father Ryan while practicing there Wednesday afternoon, and should they knock off top-ranked BA today, they could remain in Nashville until Saturday’s championship game.
Even before the five-day, cross-state odyssey Baylor already had overcome a rash of injuries just to reach the postseason. The team won 14 of its first 15 games, defending its Best of Preps tournament title along the way.
Injuries to three of their top eight players resulted in a six-game losing streak, five by single digits, that lastled from mid-January until the first week of February. But with most of those injuries healed, and led by Clemons, who averages 13 points, 7.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals a game and is the program’s first Miss Basketball finalist in more than a decade, Baylor (18-9) has rebounded to win four of its last six and earn a rematch against a BA team that already owns two wins in the series this season.
“We finally have an actual rotation again,” Gibson said. “This team could’ve very well gone over the side of the cliff and been done. It’s a credit to our staff and the girls. I’m not sure how, but they figured a way to get here.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.