Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Injuries End Gurdon Girls' Season; Overtime Is Needed To Beat Caddo

Late season injuries proved to be more than Gurdon's Lady Devils could overcome.

Against Lewisville in late January, Alicia Clayborn suffered a severely sprained ankle. While she was able to come back and play, she wasn't as effective as she'd been.

Jessica Rainey had knee problems throughout the year, but was still able to help the Lady Devils.

In the regional tourney, held at Centerpoint High School last week, Tiffany Ware sprained a knee and was lost in the semi-final game with Stephens as Gurdon's season came to an end with the 55-42 loss.

The Lady Roadrunners came out with a 10-0 run to put the Lady Devils on their heels early as Gurdon's offense was cold.

The Lady Devils didn't score until the 5:18 mark, with the first points coming on a three-point basket.

Rainey was called for two fouls within the first three minutes, thereby bringing Clayborn off the bench.

Gurdon's problem was Stephens was shooting well. The Lady 'Runners led 14-4 with 4:05 showing, while both teams were called for fouls.

The period ended with Gurdon on the short end of a 17-7 score.

Because of the injuries Gurdon players were recovering from, the Lady Devils were not able to play as physically as Stephens did.

This lead to Gurdon players being pounded when they tried to drive in the paint.

For a while, Clayborn was able to be effective inside as the Lady Devils rallied to cut the score to 23-17 with 4:40 left in the half.

The Lady Devils worked to take advantage of Stephens mistakes, but Gurdon shooters found more iron than nylon.

Though the Lady Devils tried to rally, the Lady 'Runners led 36-23 at the break.

Gurdon's defense was solid throughout the contest, but the offense was lacking.

The two squads battled up and down the court, with Stephens winning the period 13-12 as the Lady 'Runners led 49-35 at the end of three.

Ware was lost early in the final period, as she went down with a sprained knee and had to be carried off the court.

This put Gurdon's already depleted squad in even more jeopardy, though the Lady Devils never said die and refused to quit.

The fourth quarter saw little scoring as Stephens worked on the clock more than with the ball.

GURDON 41

CADDO HILLS 35

OVERTIME

For a while it looked as if the Lady Devils wouldn't make it past the opening round of play.

Gurdon's senior girls needed an extra four minutes to scalp the Lady Indians of Caddo Hills 41-35.

When play began, neither team was able to score well. The Lady Indians were the taller team, but had never seen Gurdon's defense.

The pace was slow as Caddo worked the ball around for their shots and Gurdon's shots were just off.

The first points of the game came from the charity stripe as Caddo took a 2-0 lead, building it to 5-0 with 3:43 showing.

In the first quarter, the question was not how much Gurdon would score, but if the Lady Devils could put points on the board.

It wasn't that the Lady Devils weren't shooting, they had fits trying to get the ball in the hold.

Caddo led 7-0 with 1:03 showing before Clayborn scored Gurdon's first points.

The period ended with the score 7-4.

Arctic weather continued to plague Gurdon's offense as the Lady Devils were cold from the field in the second period, even though they scored the first two points to cut the lead to 7-6.

The problem for Gurdon was the team would only hit one free throw for the remainder of the half.

While the Lady Devils did what they could to get the ball inside, the size of the Lady Indians proved to be hard to overcome.

In fact, Callie Miller blocked several shots without leaving her feet.

The half ended with Caddo leading 14-7.

A fast break and layup opened the third period and cut the lead to 14-9 as Gurdon picked up the pace somewhat and began pushing the ball downcourt.

The Lady Devils began pressing and trapping the ball, working to force turnovers or mental mistakes by Caddo.

While the faster pace helped Gurdon get better shots, the Lady Devils still had problems putting the ball in the hole, and, subsequently, were unable to cut into Caddo's lead much.

The period ended with the score 23-15 and the outcome still in doubt.

But, Gurdon's press was beginning to have an effect on Caddo as the Lady Indians began turning the ball over more frequently.

As the fourth quarter started, everything was on the line for both teams. The winner moved on and the loser went home.

Apparently this realization helped set a fire under the Lady Devil offense as Gurdon outscored Caddo 13-5 in the fourth frame, which ended with the score knotted at 28-28.

The Lady Devils packed the lanes even more and pushed the pace faster. Caddo's Miller also found herself in foul trouble, which aided Gurdon's cause.

The Lady Devils took a 25-23 lead with 4:03 left in the period, but couldn't put the Lady Indians away, as they finished regulation time outscoring Gurdon 5-3.

Gurdon came alive in the overtime period, racing up and down the court after every ball, loose or not, pressing Caddo Hills and working to force turnovers.

Caddo also pressed, but had little effect on the Lady Devils. This forced the Lady Indians to foul and put Gurdon at the line.

The Lady Devils were able to hit their free throws and pull away from Caddo as they posted their lone tourney win.