Lady Raiders demonstrate state ranking deserved

Posted 12/30/21

The Dec. 13 Texas Girls Coaches Association state basketball poll ranked the Winnsboro Lady Raiders 12th in 3A. Their Dec. 20 defeat of the Mineola Lady Jackets seemed to validate that …

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Lady Raiders demonstrate state ranking deserved

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The Dec. 13 Texas Girls Coaches Association state basketball poll ranked the Winnsboro Lady Raiders 12th in 3A. Their Dec. 20 defeat of the Mineola Lady Jackets seemed to validate that ranking. 

The Lady Raiders won the game 85-16.

If one has ever had the opportunity to drive a race car around a track, any kind of track, one can appreciate reaching a level whereby the sense of personal comfort has reached its limit. These levels of comfort and confidence apply in all sports. 

On the Winnsboro girls team, a number of athletes are comfortable handling the ball, confident in their abilities in practically all situations on the court, and simply want to go faster.

Combine that level of comfort and confidence with a solid scheme, great size and excellent shooting, and it puts the team near the top of all teams in the state.

Winnsboro began the game on fire and never let up. They scored as many points using a press to create turnovers as they did breaking the Mineola press.

Their size and positioning captured most rebounding on the day. The team moved well as a unit and was calculating how to and where to best attack the floor.

The Lady Jackets were down by 14 after the first quarter. Leading by a huge margin, Winnsboro called off their press with 2:49 to play in the third quarter.     

It was a moment in the fourth quarter which told much about the Lady Raiders. When a rebound of a Mineola shot reached the floor and was secured by a Lady Jacket, the bench of the Lady Raiders emphatically yelled at their teammates for letting that rebound hit the floor and escape.

Mineola will not be the only team who goes down in defeat to Winnsboro this year. To the Lady Jackets’ great credit, they worked as hard as their opponents, but for the aforementioned reasons could not compete in the scoreline.   

This week the Lady Jackets staged the Mineola Lady Jackets Classic tourney. Standing 2-1 in district play thus far, the Lady Jackets will host Mt. Vernon Tuesday, Jan. 4 in the next district action.