Junction City’s girls tasted defeat Friday for the first time in two months. Coach Henry Harrell hopes the Lady Dragons’ 62-51 loss to Spring Hill in the finals of the 8-2A District Tournament will serve as fuel.
Junction City hosts the 2A-South Regional Tournament this week. The Lady Dragons open play Thursday at 7 p.m. against Mount Ida.
“I think we’ll respond very well,” Harrell said of Friday’s setback. “We had a bump in the road but, you’re always going to have bumps. It’s how you respond to them. The girls want to go to state so I think they’ll respond very well.”
Junction City had enjoyed a 16-game winning streak since dropping a 36-33 decision at Harmony Grove on Dec. 18. Spring Hill jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the title game. The Lady Dragons fought back to within six but never could climb out of the early hole.
“They were disappointed in the dressing room. After I talked to them, they understand everything is not lost. It might be a blessing in disguise,” Harrell said. “You’re winning all those games and you forget that anything can happen. I’m glad that we lost and still have one more game to play than to lose and that be your last game.”
After the early 17-point deficit, the Lady Dragons answered with 11 consecutive points. But, the Lady Bears strung together a 12-0 run and eventually built another 17-point cushion. Junction City had another 12-0 run and closed the gap to 47-41 in the fourth.
“I told them at halftime, it’s not a 16-point play. Just go out there and play and chip away at it. Hopefully, we could get it down to 10 or 8 going into the fourth quarter so we could feel like we’d have a chance to pull it out. I think we got it down to six at one time. They hit a couple big shots and we weren’t able to get over the hump,” said Harrell, who believes the loss will do his team some good.
“It helps us understand that maybe we’re not as good as people were putting us to be if we don’t come out and play every night. If you come out and play, you have a chance to win. But, if you don’t, teams are not going to lay down just because you have won 13 games in a row. Like I told them, it wasn’t like we were blowing teams out. It was a 1-point win here, 2-point win here, 8-point win here. Everybody played us close. I hope they understand, which, I think they do, we have to come out and play from the start.”
Mt. Ida brings a 16-10 record into the regional tournament. The Lady Lions lost to Murfreesboro 49-48 in last week’s district tournament. Before that, they had won seven games in a row. According to MaxPreps, Mt. Ida’s top scorers are Kendall Jones (5-7, Sr.) and Madison Smith (5-2, Sr.). who average 12 points apiece.
“Don’t know much about them right now,” Harrell said on Monday. “I’m trying to get film on them.”
The coach said senior guard Taykeetria Rogers, who played Friday after hurting her ankle in Thursday’s semifinal, should be close to full strength for the regional.
“She’ll probably be about 95 percent when the tournament starts. I don’t think she was favoring her ankle that much the other night,” he said. “Then again, she’s not going to tell you if she’s hurt or not. She can have a broke leg and still tell you she’s good.”
As for the regional, Thursday’s winner will earn a berth in the 2A State Tournament. So, bouncing back from a loss isn’t optional for the Lady Dragons.
“We’re playing at home. I think it’ll be a big advantage. We’re just looking forward to playing. We have to win one game in order for our season to move on. We know what’s at stake. Hopefully, we’ll have three good days of practice and get ready for Thursday night and see what happens,” said Harrell. “One loss doesn’t define your season. It’s how you respond from a loss. I think we will respond very well come Thursday night.”