By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
HUNTSVILLE — New Waverly girls basketball coach Eldridge McAdams said there was a reason he liked to schedule the Lady Bulldogs to play a big tournament around Christmastime.
This year those plans have paid off.
For the first time in school history, New Waverly is playing in the girls regional tournament. The Lady Bulldogs (23-8) will square off with Marlin at 5 p.m. today at Tyler Junior College.
“The girls are really excited and I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” McAdams said Thursday. “They just love to play basketball. This is a new experience for them, but I always get us into a big tournament at Christmas to get us prepared for this, going on the road, having to spend the night and play games back-to-back.”
The Huntsville girls are also playing in a regional tournament. The Lady Hornets battle La Marque at 3 p.m. today at the Campbell Center in Houston.
The Lady Hornets (25-7) survived a thrilling double-overtime victory over Buda Hays in the quarterfinals Wednesday night.
“The girls are feeling real good right now,” HHS head coach Jay Oliphant said Thursday. “We have been shooting a ton of free throws. That almost cost us last night. If we can make free throws and not miss a lot of easy layups, we are going to be all right.”
McAdams has had the luxury of having seen Marlin play this season. The coach was scouting district opponent Anderson-Shiro during the regular season, and the Lady Owls just so happened to be playing Marlin.
“I went to see Anderson earlier this year and they were playing Marlin, so I have an idea of what we can expect,” McAdams said. “They have speed, they are athletic and they have some size. I’ve got some film, so I’m going to take a look at that.
“We just need to take care of the basketball. If we eliminate turnovers and make easy baskets, our defense is always good enough to give us a chance.”
Oliphant had to rely on the Internet to find out information about the Lady Cougars (24-7).
The first-year head coach had hoped to have a little more time to prepare for La Marque, but because of the winter storm which hit the area Tuesday, all the games were pushed back until Wednesday, leaving only a day between the regional quarterfinals and semifinals.
“We intended to scout them more, but the snow took care of that plan,” Oliphant said.
“I found out some stuff on the Internet. They have to good post players. (Jaleesa) Allen is averaging 17 points a game and (Jessieka) Palmer is averaging 13.
“As a team they average about 55 points, so those two make up 75 percent of their offense.”
