Lady Blue Devils claim 3A back-to-back titles
Lady Blue Devils claim 3A back-to-back titles. Coach Michael Smith adds to trophy collection. Booneville defeated Forest 58-37. Saniyah Cook was MVP.
The game started out with Booneville hustling and getting steals that lead to quick points. Sa’niyah Cook was a big part of that. At the end of the first quarter Booneville was up 11-6. Forest was playing good defense, but just couldn’t get the ball to fall through the hoop.
“It feels good playing with my teammates,” said Cook. “This is my first state championship, but we have been playing together for a while. We are a young team and look forward to doing this again.”
Shakira Robinson for Forest started it off with a quick steal for two points. Kylee Johnson, the sophomore for Booneville quickly answered on two trips down court. Two sweet floaters. Ava Kathryn Smith drained two three pointers that put Booneville on a 11-2 run in four minutes. The sophomores for Booneville were sensational in the first half. Things were constantly getting better for the Blue Devils. With 1:30 left in the half the score was 28-8.
“It feels good to win my third championship,” said Kylee Johnson. “I’m happy to do it with the people I love. I do a lot of reps with my floater in practice. I just try to get it up before my opponent can react.”
Kylee Johnson had eight points just with the pretty floater.
“They went out and played hard in the first quarter,” said Coach Michael Smith. “They made a nice run in the second that forced a few timeouts. We did good rebounding on the glass. Especially on the backside.”
Mikayla Holifield for the Lady Cats struck first after halftime. They would manage to have their best quarter since the game started. They scored more points in the third than they did the whole first half.
The fourth quarter was all Lady Devils. Saniyah and Kylee Johnson sealed the deal for their team.
“We started off pretty good the way we expected,” said Cook. “Then we kind of got tired in the second half. We knew that Robinson and Parhm were their best defensive players. We knew they would put pressure on the ball.”
