Lady Spartans on hunt for region title





Marian Byne drives to the basketball for a layup.

Marian Byne drives to the basketball for a layup.

Their chances of winning EBA’s fourth region girl’s basketball title are within reach.

The Lady Spartans improved their region record to 3-1 last week after defeating Curtis Baptist 37-26 and First Presbyterian Christian Academy 50-48. The Lady Spartans have now played every team in their region, losing only to Frederica Academy 23-32. They will play each of these teams again, while having home court advantage during their next meeting against the Lady Knights on Jan. 28. If they can win out, they’ll be in a tie for first place against Frederica, assuming Frederica wins all of their region games.

During their game against Curtis Baptist, Amanda Bragg recorded a double-double for the Lady Spartans. She scored 14 points, while bringing down 13 rebounds. Marian Byne had her highest scoring game of the season, tallying 11 points during the win.

After winning their second region win of the season, head coach Ray Miller commented on his team’s performance. “Seniors Bragg and Byne both played very well during the game,” Miller said. “Ansleigh Dickey continues to improve at the point guard position and handled the man to man defense from Curtis very well. As a team, we were able to make adjustments to our offense when Curtis switched defenses on us.”

Four days later, Edmund Burke improved to 3-1 in region action after beating First Presbyterian Christian in a game that came down to the final seconds. During the two-point victory, several players for the Lady Spartans scored big numbers. Mariah Cates recorded 12, while Jennifer McDaniel put 10 points in the books. Amber Chambers and Dickey each had 8 points, while Sammie Jo Evans scored 6. Dickey hit two three-pointers during the game. Chambers had her best game of the season on the boards, recording 15 rebounds. Bragg collected 10 rebounds.

“The team had a great night offensively,” Miller said after the win. “Mariah and Ansleigh hit some big shots early, which opened things up inside for us to go to Jennifer and Amber. We had to switch our defense up because of their two shooting guards who combined for 42 of their 48 points. Hopefully, we’ll be able to control those two players next time we face them.”

EBA will play their next three games away, before ending regular season play with three straight home region games.


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