Simply Put 2/26/09

"Hats off to the ladies"
Something rare in the world of local sports happened this past Saturday night. Of the five Jackson County varsity girl’s basketball programs, three of them made it all the way to the FHSAA Regional Finals. And while only one of the teams won and will advance to the Final Four in Lakeland, the fact that three teams from the same small rural county made it that far is quite remarkable.
The Cottondale Lady Hornets will make the trip to Lakeland after beating Port St. Joe on the road. Cottondale is under the direction of First Year Head Coach Laura Holman. If you recall Chris O’bert had been pulling double duty the last two years at Cottondale, coaching both the boys and girls squads. He turned the helm over to Holman this year and what a job she has done. Even more amazingly, this is Holman’s first coaching job as she just finished college last year at Troy where she played for the Lady Trojans. The Lady Hornets enter the Final Four with a record of 21-5, and two of those five losses came in close games to Graceville.
Speaking of Graceville, the Lady Tigers smoked most everybody during the regular season and entered the playoffs with a record of 23-2. After opening round wins over Rocky Bayou and Paxton, the Lady Tigers ran into a buzz saw this past Saturday night call Precious Hall (FAMU). On her home court Hall blistered the nets for 28 points to eliminate the Lady Tigers from the playoffs. Second year Head Coach John Habali led the Lady Tigers to a final record of 25-3.
As outstanding as those two teams have been, without question the biggest turn around this season has been the Marianna Lady Bulldogs. Charles Brown Jr. (or Chuckie) is in his second year and the Lady Bulldogs made tremendous strides this season. Back in the 80’s, under Charles Goodson, the Lady Bulldogs were a powerhouse that went to Lakeland routinely. But the past few years have been hard on the Lady Bulldogs so this year’s turnaround has been impressive. Marianna had opening round wins over Pensacola Catholic and Walton County, before losing in a close game on the road to Jacksonville Ribault Saturday night. They finished with a record of 19-8.
So, that is three coaches in their first or second year with their programs, leading the three squads to a combined record of 65-16. You can look long and hard at plenty of other small rural counties and not find that kind of success. Simply Put, we call that basketball, Jackson County style. Congratulations ladies and coaches on an outstanding year.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said his teenage son eats like there is no tomorrow and sleeps like there was no yesterday.