The radiant smiles displayed as the buzzer sounded told the full story for Clements’ varsity girls.
The Colts didn’t care that they hadn’t beaten Lauderdale County in three previous tries this season.
And they didn’t care if people thought they were an underdog in search of their second straight Final Four berth.
All that mattered Wednesday was enjoying a well-earned moment in front of a jam-packed Tom Drake Coliseum.
No worries there.
Taylor Farrar collected a game-high 20 points, Leah Childress tossed in 16 and Clements knocked off top-ranked Lauderdale County 59-41 in the championship of the Class 3A Northwest Regional Tournament to advance to the state tournament in Birmingham, where they will face No. 3 Trinity Presbyterian next Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Even though her team fell to the Tigers by 32 points just two weeks ago, Childress was adamant that result didn’t affect their confidence entering Wednesday’s matchup.
“We knew deep down we were the better team,” she said. “We knew we had the potential to come here and do it. We had a completely different game plan coming into this game and we knew we could execute it. We’ve grown so much (in the past two weeks).”
The No. 4 Colts (24-9) galloped out of the gate with fantastic energy in a first half that saw them hold Lauderdale County (28-2) to just 19 percent shooting (5 for 26) while forcing 11 turnovers.
Coupled with a balanced scoring attack — six different players recorded baskets — Clements held a 23-14 lead at intermission.
The halftime break did nothing to slow down coach Shane Childress’ group, which outpaced the Tigers 15-9 in the third stanza to extend its cushion to 15 points. Lauderdale County got no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
That aforementioned completely different game plan turned out to be the key.
Childress deployed a new defense from the outset of the game — and it worked to perfection. The Colts held one of the best half-court offenses in the state to one of its lowest outputs of the season. The Tigers made just 26 percent of their shots from the floor (14 of 54) and committed 20 turnovers.
“It’s something I’ve been working on for a while,” Childress said coyly. “It threw them off a little bit and got them out of sync. It caused some doubt. It’s like all sports — once you’re going, you can go. But if you don’t start rolling, then everything gets tighter. Their man offense is so good and their man defense is so good — it’s one of the best teams Lauderdale County has ever had. To beat them is really good for us.”
Tay Tay Farrar was next in line offensively with nine points, while Kaley McEwen and Josie Childress had six apiece. Asiah Malone rounded out the scoring with two.
Leah Childress (MVP), Josie Childress and Tay Tay Farrar were named to the All-Tournament Team.
For Leah Childress, the comfortable lead down the stretch allowed her to soak in the triumphant moment.
“It was way more fun,” she said. “We got to enjoy it and actually smile instead of being so serious (laughs).”
Shane Childress, meanwhile, was more than happy to lay the praise at the feet of others.
“We played smart and with great energy,” he said. “We executed so well defensively — and we were very patient on offense. I was so proud of how locked in we were. Our coaching staff did an amazing job preparing the team to have a chance against one of the greatest Lauderdale County teams of all-time.”
The Colts will no doubt remember this one for years to come. But soon, it’ll be time to turn the page to Birmingham, and more specifically, and Trinity.
The Wildcats defeated Clements in last year’s state title game behind a big fourth quarter.
Now, Childress and her teammates have an opportunity to settle the score.
“It’ll be fun,” she said. “We want the rematch after being so close last year. We love that we have another chance.”