BIRMINGHAM -The young ladies on the Talladega High basketball team aged a little on Thursday.It wasn’t anyone’s birthday, but every one on the Lady Tigers roster got some experience when they fell to the defending 5A champs in the semifinal round of the state playoffs.
The Lady Tigers gave it all they had, but in the end it wasn’t enough to triumph over the Lady Rams of Ramsay.
Talladega faced one disadvantage after another when they took the floor at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Thursday. The first was the height difference between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Rams. Talladega’s tallest players are listed as 5 feet 9 inches on the roster. The Lady Tigers have three listed at the height, but only one, Jessica Shaw, had any playing time Thursday. The rest of the ladies on the roster range in height from 5 feet to 5 feet 7 inches.
The roster for the Lady Rams features five players taller than Talladega’s tallest. One of those players is listed as 6 feet 3 inches with two others at 5 feet 11 inches. Robert Mosley, head coach for Ramsay said he was glad his team had the height advantage for a change.
“We were able to take advantage of our size,” Mosley said. “Most of the teams we’ve played have been more physical than us. We wanted to go with our strength (in the second half).”
The Lady Rams’ strong play forced the Lady Tigers out of their preferred defense early in the second half. Ramsay then shut down Talladega’s leading scorer to seal the win.
Talladega head coach Jannie Keith said she didn’t think Ramsay’s size gave them an unfair advantage.
“I don’t think size is what hurt us so bad,” Keith said after the game. “They had a hot hand. Our shots didn’t fall.”
While size may not have been a factor for Keith, experience probably was. Looking once again at the rosters for each team, anyone can see who should have an advantage. Three seniors and seven juniors make up the team from Ramsey. Three juniors, two sophomores, four freshmen, four eighth-graders and a seventh-grader compose the Lady Tigers basketball team.
Talladega started two sophomores and three freshmen Thursday against the three seniors and two juniors for Ramsay.
“We’ve faced teams with a lot of seniors all season so it wasn’t anything new for us,” Keith said.
The Lady Tigers came into the game as the underdog, but with a lot of support after a strong showing at the southeast regional tournament in Troy last week. The youthfulness of the Lady Tigers could be a great advantage in the future. Talladega will bring back all of its players for next season — a season Keith says she will focus on very soon.
“As soon as Monday comes we’ll start getting ready for camp this summer,” she said. “We’re going to do what we need to do to be back here next year.”
The trip to Birmingham for the Final Four was a first for girls’ basketball at Talladega High. Keith said she hopes it won’t be the last.
“I hope it will be like the flu or a cold,” Keith said. “Once you get one, you don’t shake it off so easy. We’ll be (in Birmingham) again. I always say don’t look at what we’ve done in the past, but look to tomorrow.
“You can look for us tomorrow.”
