Class 2A Final Four: Cottondale falls to First Academy

LAKELAND - Knight time came quickly for Cottondale.

Sisters Erin and Taylor Knight combined for 34 points in First Academy's 48-25 win over the Lady Hornets in the FHSAA Class 3A girls basketball semifinals Thursday afternoon at The Lakeland Center.

Cottondale took a 2-0 lead in the opening minute and then the Lady Royals scored 10 straight points to take con-trol.

The Knight sisters scored 19 of First Academy's first 21 points. Erin scored all 18 of her points in the first half and Taylor finished with 16.

"Erin Knight is a great shooter," Cottondale coach Laura Lee Holman said. "She's coming off screens and shooting. If we stop her, then her sister was right open. I just thought we did a lot better job defending them in the second half."

Cottondale (22-9) managed just nine points in the first two quarters but came alive with a 10-point third quarter. By that time, it was too late.

Holman said her team was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the state finals and the activities surrounding the event. It showed with eight turnovers in the first eight minutes, most of which were traveling violations. Cottondale finished with 18 turnovers. The First Academy (19-9) will play Naples Community School Saturday in the state finals.

"The initial shock is over," Holman said. "We went to eat and the girls are laughing and cutting up right now. It was pretty heartbreaking because we came out in the first quarter and I think we got overwhelmed and turned the ball over a few times."

The Lady Hornets were led by Shaunte Forward's eight points and Khadejah Ward's six.

In the second half, Holman assigned eighth-grader Ward to Erin Knight and the senior didn't score. Ward and Deona Jones scored four points each in the third quarter.

"There were a couple of times there I thought we might be able to turn things around," Holman said. "We tried to change up some things here and there, and I thought we might be able to get in a little rhythm."

With 6 minutes, 4 seconds left in the first half, Cottondale senior guard Shanea Dickens was carried off the court with a knee injury. She eventually returned midway through the fourth quarter, but Cottondale had to start the second half without her.

About 70 Cottondale fans made the 370-mile trip.

"I tried everything I knew to try to get them where we could make a comeback, but we just couldn't get any-thing," Holman said. "Our girls, they never quit. We just couldn't get in a rhythm."

COTTONDALE (25)
Wright 1 0-1 2, Paul 1 0-0 3, Shau. Forward 3 0-0 8, Dickens 0 0-0 0, Grimsley 1 0-0 2, Ward 2 2-2 6, McDaniel 0 0-0 0, Jones 2 0-2 4, Shar. Forward 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 2-5 25.
FIRST ACADEMY (48)
Hair 0 0-0 0, Knight 7 2-6 16, Cole 0 0-0 0, Winders 0 0-0 0, Tesch 1 0-0 3, K. Grant 2 0-0 5, Burns 0 0-0 0, Steinke 0 0-0 0, V. Grant 0 0-0 0, Ficka 0 0-0 0, Thomas 3 0-0 6, E. Knight 8 0-0 18, Schrimsher 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 2-6 48.
Cottondale          4  5 10 6 - 25
First Academy 14 18 8 8 - 48
3-point goals: Cottondale 3 (Shau.Forward 2, Paul), First Academy 4 (E. Knight 2, Grant, Tesch). Total fouls: Cottondale 8, First Academy 7. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.