Lady Spartans Roll Again, But Nemesis Awaits

After watching his team post its second 25-point win, a 70-45 whipping of visiting Valdosta on Tuesday night, in as many Georgia High School Association State Basketball Tournament games, coach Randy McClure smiled, but understood there was still work to be done.

“Like always, you’re glad to be here but you know you’re going to be playing a good team in the next round,’’ McClure said after coaching the Lady Spartans into the elite eight for the sixth time in seven years.

And that “good team’’ turns out to be the Lady Spartans’ nemesis this season as Campbell will face Region 4-AAAAA rival North Cobb Saturday afternoon at Fort Valley State University.

Tip time is set for 4 p.m. as it will be a Cobb block party southwest of Macon on Saturday with fellow Region 4 foes Hillgrove and McEachern set to play at 7 p.m.

Campbell is 25-6 on the season after winning six straight and 17 of its last 19 games. But both those losses came against you know who - the Lady Warriors of North Cobb.

The senior-laden Lady Spartans will hope to bring the kind of swarming and ball-hawking defense against the Lady Warriors as they delivered against the Lady Wildcats, 18-12. Senior Chakecia Miller registered 12 steals as Campbell forced a whopping 37 Valdosta turnovers Tuesday night at Wills Gymnasium.

“We were able to get some turnovers and covert some baskets off them, that’s what we do,’’ McClure said.

The Lady Spartans did it well enough against the Lady Wildcats to force nine first quarter turnovers in bolting out to an 18-8 advantage after one period of play. Senior Erica Norwood buried a trio of treys in the opening quarter and scored 20 of her game-high 25 points in the first half.

Both teams got a bit chippy with one another in the second half, but the Lady Spartans, who led by margins of 14 at the break and 18 entering the final quarter, were never seriously threatened.

Miller added 20 points for the Lady Spartans, while fellow seniors Angel Foster and Jalessea Phillips added eight and seven points respectively. Junior point guard Baylee Hawkins also scored seven points as McClure benefits from having a lot of upperclassmen on the court at all times.

“The kids have been there before,’’ he said. “You expect leadership out of them and we got it tonight. Kisha and Erica, I can’t say enough about them, all of them. I’m just glad to have them.’’

And they’ll all have to come big Saturday afternoon if the Lady Spartans want to go where they haven’t gone before – the final four. Campbell will face a North Cobb squad that beat the Lady Spartans twice in a six-day span in early February.

North Cobb is 25-5 on the year after a pair of state tournament road wins at Stephenson Saturday and at Savannah’s Beach High School on Tuesday night. The Lady Warriors are one of just two Georgia-based schools to have beaten Campbell this season.

“I think the way we’re playing, but nothing will be easy from here,’’ McClure said.