When Sunday’s GSC women’s championship game came down to the final minute, I never once doubted the outcome would be in UCA’s favor. My reasoning was simple. “One team has Carone Harris, the other doesn’t.”

While Carone may not have hit the shots down the stretch, having her on the floor just automatically gives you the advantage. And it was her lob pass to Caronica Randle that led to the game-winning score.

But it wasn’t just Carone, or even just Carone and Caronica. Like the opposing coaches said after having their title hopes dashed, the Sugar Bears just have too many weapons.

In the three games it took the Sugar Bears to win the title, Micaela Thomas took her game to another level, playing the way you need your seniors to play come March. She broke Montevallo’s will with a big 3 that sparked an eight-point run in the first round, dropped 15 points during the SAU game and got things started with a 3 against Valdosta. She averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds for the tournament, played hard on defense and grabbed rebounds “like a madwoman” as coach Checola Seals said.

Renita Dobbins found another gear in the tournament, doing the things that make her stand out from everybody else on the court, the things people can’t stop because they’re two steps behind. In the SAU game, Dobbins destroyed the Lady Riders’ half-court defense, crossing over and blowing by Brooke Grigsby about 15,000 times. She got inside the defense and got things going and was absolutely lethal on the fast break — particularly with Thomas. The official stats credited her with one assist at the half of that game, but I counted more than that on fast breaks to Thomas alone.

Her pure speed and ball handling ability frustrated the Lady Riders all game. The same carried over into the Valdosta game, as in the post-game press conference the coach and players, in citing barriers to victory, kept saying “No. 21”. Nobody knew her name, but they should have, considering they saw it on the back of her jersey all afternoon. The girl is maybe 5-foot-2 but found a way to rip down six rebounds. She’d fly in and get a rebound, then dribble between her legs eight ways and squirt out of the forest like it was second nature. Every loose ball was hers. She made steals, made passes, made high-arcing floaters and made headaches for the opposition.

On the final possession of the championship game, Delta State Media Relations Director Matt Jones turned to me and UCA Sports Information Director Steve East and asked who we thought should get the ball. Jones said he’d put it in Dobbins’ hands since she was being isolated on the left side. Although my coaching experience is limited to NBA Live and some skills instruction to my younger sister (who won a district title a couple of weeks ago. I know what I’m doing.), I agreed with him. My expert opinion was that Renita could simply break ankles on the hapless defender assigned to her, and as she streaked in for the open layup, some late help would come in, leaving somebody unguarded in the post. If somebody rolled in, she had the easy pass. If everybody stayed home, she had the open layup. I thought you might even be able to anticipate her getting by the defender and go ahead and set a pick on the other side to have somebody breaking toward the bucket as she did.

Well, we were onto something since the ball did indeed end up in Renita’s hands. She blew by her defender as scripted but decided to go ahead and get her layup attempt blocked to set up The Perfect Play. It’s like they drew it up that way. That’s why they’re the best coaching staff in the Gulf South.

If Renita and Micaela continue to play as they did in Tupelo, it’s going to be real hard for anybody to stop the Sugar Bears — particularly on their home floor.

The Sugar Bears just ran through the conference tournament, winning the title game by one and the other two by an average of 18.5, and that was with Harris maybe not playing her best basketball.

Of course, she went ahead and averaged 20 points and 8 rebounds, and you can probably make do with that, even if those numbers are below her average.

And the same goes for Randle, who averaged “only” 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three games, down from her averages of 19.0 and 7.4.

So even if she did fall .7 points and rebounds shy of her average, she still contributed plenty, especially in the final 30 seconds of that championship game when she hit two big shots and a free throw to secure the win.

On a team with three senior starters, one of whom is an All-American, Randle is trusted with the ball down the stretch. That says a lot about how far she’s come since last year when she averaged 8.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game as a freshman.

And I’m glad, too, since the longer she’s on the court increases the chance of seeing her crazy celebration faces. Gotta love that intensity. Now if only we could get her to return phone calls.

A couple of other tidbits:

• The women’s championship game Sunday was one of the better basketball games I’ve ever seen, men or women. Back and forth the whole time with both teams playing as hard as they could. It’s just too bad the State Hall Hecklers and the Bears basketball team couldn’t stick around to see it.

• Traci Graham most likely joined an elite, exclusive club when she used both “obscurity” and “all up in my grill” in the same press conference. That’s not something you get every day.

• They can’t say it, but I can — the officiating in the Bears-Montevallo Falcons game was atrocious. Horrible. Terrible. You prefer refs call it good on both ends, but you can live with it if they call it bad on both ends. You want to go ahead and take a charge against a bus when it’s bad on one end and deplorable on the other. Gah.





		Everybody’s on for Sugar Bears

			When Sunday’s GSC women’s championship game came down to the final minute, I never once doubted the outcome would be in UCA’s favor. My reasoning was simple. “One team has Carone Harris, the other doesn’t.” While Carone may not have hit the shots down the stretch, having her on the floor just automatically gives you the advantage. And it was her lob pass to Caronica Randle that led to the game-winning score. But it wasn’t just Carone, or even just Carone and Caronica. Like the opposing coaches said after having their title hopes dashed, the Sugar Bears just have too many weapons. In the three games it took the Sugar Bears to win the title, Micaela Thomas took her game to another level, playing the way you need your seniors to play come March. She broke Montevallo’s will with a big 3 that sparked an eight-point run in the first round, dropped 15 points during the SAU game and got things started with a 3 against Valdosta. She averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds for the tournament, played hard on defense and grabbed rebounds “like a madwoman” as coach Checola Seals said. Renita Dobbins found another gear in the tournament, doing the things that make her stand out from everybody else on the court, the things people can’t stop because they’re two steps behind. In the SAU game, Dobbins destroyed the Lady Riders’ half-court defense, crossing over and blowing by Brooke Grigsby about 15,000 times. She got inside the defense and got things going and was absolutely lethal on the fast break — particularly with Thomas. The official stats credited her with one assist at the half of that game, but I counted more than that on fast breaks to Thomas alone. Her pure speed and ball handling ability frustrated the Lady Riders all game. The same carried over into the Valdosta game, as in the post-game press conference the coach and players, in citing barriers to victory, kept saying “No. 21”. Nobody knew her name, but they should have, considering they saw it on the back of her jersey all afternoon. The girl is maybe 5-foot-2 but found a way to rip down six rebounds. She’d fly in and get a rebound, then dribble between her legs eight ways and squirt out of the forest like it was second nature. Every loose ball was hers. She made steals, made passes, made high-arcing floaters and made headaches for the opposition. On the final possession of the championship game, Delta State Media Relations Director Matt Jones turned to me and UCA Sports Information Director Steve East and asked who we thought should get the ball. Jones said he’d put it in Dobbins’ hands since she was being isolated on the left side. Although my coaching experience is limited to NBA Live and some skills instruction to my younger sister (who won a district title a couple of weeks ago. I know what I’m doing.), I agreed with him. My expert opinion was that Renita could simply break ankles on the hapless defender assigned to her, and as she streaked in for the open layup, some late help would come in, leaving somebody unguarded in the post. If somebody rolled in, she had the easy pass. If everybody stayed home, she had the open layup. I thought you might even be able to anticipate her getting by the defender and go ahead and set a pick on the other side to have somebody breaking toward the bucket as she did. Well, we were onto something since the ball did indeed end up in Renita’s hands. She blew by her defender as scripted but decided to go ahead and get her layup attempt blocked to set up The Perfect Play. It’s like they drew it up that way. That’s why they’re the best coaching staff in the Gulf South. If Renita and Micaela continue to play as they did in Tupelo, it’s going to be real hard for anybody to stop the Sugar Bears — particularly on their home floor. The Sugar Bears just ran through the conference tournament, winning the title game by one and the other two by an average of 18.5, and that was with Harris maybe not playing her best basketball. Of course, she went ahead and averaged 20 points and 8 rebounds, and you can probably make do with that, even if those numbers are below her average. And the same goes for Randle, who averaged “only” 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three games, down from her averages of 19.0 and 7.4. So even if she did fall .7 points and rebounds shy of her average, she still contributed plenty, especially in the final 30 seconds of that championship game when she hit two big shots and a free throw to secure the win. On a team with three senior starters, one of whom is an All-American, Randle is trusted with the ball down the stretch. That says a lot about how far she’s come since last year when she averaged 8.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game as a freshman. And I’m glad, too, since the longer she’s on the court increases the chance of seeing her crazy celebration faces. Gotta love that intensity. Now if only we could get her to return phone calls. A couple of other tidbits: • The women’s championship game Sunday was one of the better basketball games I’ve ever seen, men or women. Back and forth the whole time with both teams playing as hard as they could. It’s just too bad the State Hall Hecklers and the Bears basketball team couldn’t stick around to see it. • Traci Graham most likely joined an elite, exclusive club when she used both “obscurity” and “all up in my grill” in the same press conference. That’s not something you get every day. • They can’t say it, but I can — the officiating in the Bears-Montevallo Falcons game was atrocious. Horrible. Terrible. You prefer refs call it good on both ends, but you can live with it if they call it bad on both ends. You want to go ahead and take a charge against a bus when it’s bad on one end and deplorable on the other. Gah.