The girls basketball team came up short in the final of the State Championship, losing 44-58 to the Maynard Jackson Jaguars on March 7. However, the Knights made history as the first team to make the state final in the school’s history.
Sophomore Devin Bockman led the team in scoring this year and continued this form in the championship game scoring a game-high 23 points whilst also leading the team in assists, field-goal percentage and three-point percentage in the State Championship. Head coach Martravious Little said Bockman played a massive role in the team’s season and performance in the Championship.
“Devin played an amazing game and was a great piece of the game,” Little said. “ All that as a sophomore in the State Championship game. I’ve seen seniors not able to capitalize like that. She’s only going to get better.”
Towards the start of the second quarter, the Knights led the Jaguars 19-12, but a poor run of turnovers, missed shots and fouls helped Maynard finish the first half leading 28-22.
“We started the game really well,” junior guard Cate Barton said. “The game was going the way we wanted it to. Starting the second quarter, one of our best players, Briaiah [Lewis], got in foul trouble and had to be subbed out. It completely ruined the flow of our game and made us go down 6 at the half.”
Bockman believes that turnovers mainly contributed to the deficit at the end of the first half.
“The main factor for us was the turnovers because they score off of transition and live ball turnovers which is where all their points come from,” Bockman said. “That’s just something we ended up not executing very well.”
Although Midtown showed strong stretches in the second half, turnover problems and inconsistency on offense persisted and Jackson ended up on top. Little said that the inconsistency was the ultimate factor in the defeat.
“We didn’t play a complete 32 minutes,” Little said. “We showed spurts of playing really good basketball, but in a situation like that, you have to play all 32 minutes. Basketball is a game of runs and their runs were heavier. When we went on our runs, they were able to keep the game close but when they went on their runs, they spread out the lead.”
Little acknowledged that Maynard’s trap schemes were strong, which allowed them to bypass one of Midtown’s strengths, halfcourt defense.
“Whenever we got back on defense and we made them score through our defense, they didn’t score very much,” Little said. “A majority of their points were from turnovers that resulted in layups and offensive rebounds. They didn’t score through our defense very much.”
Despite the loss, the Knights made history, Barton reflected on their historic season, eager to finish where they left off next year.
“Overall, I am super proud of our team for making history,” Barton said. “Our coaching staff was amazing all year and we were an extremely bonded team. I know that we have a ton of talent coming back next year and hopefully we can come back to the Championship and next time win it all.”
