In reaching the Final Four for the first time in program history, the Calhoun Lady Yellow Jackets had to get a bit out of their comfort zone.
Calhoun downed high-scoring Arabia Mountain 62-52 in Tuesday night’s GHSA Class AAAAA quarterfinal game at Calhoun, holding the visitors 20 points below their season scoring average with a concentration on not allowing easy, quick points.
“The concerning thing coming in was their speed,” Calhoun coach Jaime Echols said of the 27-3 visitors. “If we could slow them down we would have a good chance and we were able to do that when it counted. Our nature is we want to run, but we didn’t want them taking advantage of it and getting easy baskets the other way.”
The game was tied at 18 midway through the second quarter, but Calhoun (25-4) went on a nice run to lead by seven at the half. Echols’ loaded backcourt, headed by seniors Britya Curtis and Lauren Watson — the only two seniors on the team — and sophomore Sa’Niah Dorsey, controlled action on both ends of the court as the lead grew to double digits and never got closer than six.
“We’ve only got two seniors,” Echols said of Curtis and Watson. “They’ve played since they could walk and they are best friends. We have a really close-knit group, and it’s when you get in games like this that you really realize how much that means.”