The Vardaman Lady Rams, 22-8, earned some revenge from last year, but more importantly stepped closer to their dream of a trip to the state tournament with a 62-49 home win over Ray Brooks Monday night.
Last year, it was Ray Brooks who beat the Lady Rams by four points in Benoit, keeping them out of the state tournament.
The first period Monday looked like they may be able to do it again, but the Lady Rams turned the tables and controlled the game from the point on.
“The second quarter was the turning point in the game,” Coach Deanna Winter said. “Our defense started wearing them down and they started getting frustrated, because they couldn’t get their leading scorer involved.”
“Offensively we started clicking, too,” Winter said. “In the first quarter the scoring opportunities were there, but nerves caused us to miss some passes and shots. In the second quarter we started to take advantage of those opportunities.”
Brittany Hawkins led the Lady Rams with 19 points and dominated the offensive and defensive rebounding.
Alaysia Madkins added 15 points and Shylysses Rimmer 10.
Vardaman will now host Myrtle Friday night at 7 p.m., hungry for that elusive trip to state.
“Friday is huge,” Winter said. “It’s the game we have been waiting a year to get another shot at. Myrtle is a well coached team that had a really good season.”
The Lady Rams rolled through the region tournament last week in Houlka, just as they did through the regular season, but that’s in the past for this team focused solely on Friday night.
“We are going to have to step up Friday if we want to go to Jackson,” Winter said.