It's showdown time in River City, as two of the top teams in the Western Region square off tonight at Viking Gym in the sixth-ranked Robbinsville Lady Knights (24-2) and the Avery Lady Vikings (19-10). Both clubs advanced to the regional tournament one year ago, and only one will make the trip to Greensboro in 2009.Robbinsville advanced to the sectional final by way of a 77-35 victory over Highlands, while Avery defeated the Highland Tech Lady Rams 87-36.
Scouting the Lady Knights:
Robbinsville is coached by third-year head coach Warren Knott and features a roster of players with a wealth of playoff experience. Robbinsville features only two seniors, but 5'6" senior starting guard/forward Eden Brown is a defensive stalwart for the club.
The Lady Knights are anchored by a strong junior class which includes a solid ball handler in 5'8" junior point guard Kristi Burchfield. Youth is also served on the club, as two of its leading scorers are underclassmen. Sophomore 5'2" point guard Tacey Trammell has averaged over 15 points per contest, while 5'9" freshman guard Alison Beasley leads the club in scoring at around 18 points per contest.
Much like the Lady Vikings, Robbinsville favors a high-paced game that races up and down the floor, while employing a variety of defenses to slow down its opponent. Robbinsville is a fast team that has size in the interior. As well, the Knights can rely on its depth to contribute on the floor coming off the bench.
A recent trend of the Lady Knights has been their preference to get out to quick starts of games. The Lady Knights began its conference championship game with a 13-4 scoring run, and began its opening round contest of the state playoffs with a 13-1 flurry.
Common Opponents/Trends:
Two opponents were shared by the Lady Vikings and Lady Knights during the season. Both teams played the Rosman Tigers. Avery faced and defeated Rosman by four at the Holiday Tournament in Cherryville, while Robbinsville played Rosman three times during the season, defeating them on all three occasions.
Robbinsville played Polk County early in the season and won by 15 points, while Avery took two of three contests from the Lady Wolverines.
The Low Down:
Tonight's showdown has the makings of a nail-biter rivaling the Avery/Mitchell conference championship of one short week ago. Avery has been dominant in averaging over 84 points per game in the playoffs, but started slowly against Highland Tech. Robbinsville played a well-rounded game against Highlands and led by 30 points at the half en route to the win.
Despite the high-scoring potential of both teams, look for tonight's game to be more of a defensive battle as both teams take great pride in shutting down respective opponents. In Robbinsville's most recent loss at Hiwassee Dam, the Lady Knights were hampered by 11 fouls, a pair of technical fouls, and a first-quarter scoring draught that saw them trail early and never recover. JV officials were partially blamed for the loss, but the 37 points scored by Hiwassee Dam's Jenna Harris didn't help the Lady Knights' cause, either.
Robbinsville will look to shoot from the perimeter early and often in tonight's game, and the tandem of Beasley and Trammel will look to get on track quickly. Avery must keep the pressure on the Lady Knights shooters and prevent them from getting into any semblance of a comfort zone.
For the Lady Vikings to be victorious, they need to continue to do the things that have brought them this far. They need to take care of the basketball, continue to rebound with tenacity, and the frontcourt must stay out of foul trouble, primarily the duo of Ellis and Eudy. The Big Red have received contributions across the board from the roster through its first two playoff games, and that must continue. When the bench has not been a factor, the Lady Vikings have had difficulties with opponents.
Both teams are expeienced on the stage they are about to step onto, which should mean a treat for the fans who pack Viking Gym to watch two talented and terrific teams square off tonight.
