With their starting point guard and leading scorer this season sitting on the bench in street clothes, it was all hands on deck for the Red Bank girls' basketball team Friday night.
But even without sophomore Savannah Washington, who sat out with a knee injury, the Lady Lions had little trouble dispensing of visiting Polk County 53-36 in a Region 3-AA quarterfinal.
That's because what limited depth there is for the Lady Lions - there were just two healthy players on their bench - found a way to contribute.
"I told them before we came out of the locker room that every team who has reached this point in the season is battling some type of adversity," Red Bank coach Bailey McGinnis said. "You can't really replace what Savannah brings, so it's up to everybody else to find ways to help out.
"We're asking a lot of them to do things they hadn't had to before, but that's what it's going to take. The key is to keep pushing through and just find a way."
It was an air-tight 2-3 zone defense that led the way for the Lady Lions to gain control early, limiting Polk County's scoring options to contested perimeter shots they struggled to connect on.
A 12-0 run to close the first quarter put the Lady Lions (25-6) up by nine, and they pushed their lead to double figures within the first minute of the second period. The Lady Wildcats (11-14) managed only single-digit scoring in each of the first two quarters and connected on just two 3-pointers for the game.
After closing out the first half with another impressive scoring burst, 8-0, Red Bank had taken complete control with a 14-point lead that continued to grow throughout the second half.
The Lady Lions will face McMinn Central (16-10) in Monday's region semifinals at East Ridge. Red Bank has advanced to that round three of the past four years, but the program hasn't moved beyond it in more than 20 years.
"This next round has been the stumbling block for us for a while, but if we're going to get past it, this is the year," McGinnis said. "Our offense has started with our defense all season, and that was really a big part of what got us going tonight."
Raijeria Bell scored a game-high 24 points for Red Bank. Arteya Scott added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and she also took on much of the point guard duties.
"We knew we had a size advantage inside, and we wanted to get a good start to build up a lead since we don't have much depth," Scott said. "We definitely miss Savannah out there because she is the one that gets everything going for us, but we know that we just have to be tough and find ways to make up for her not being out there."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.