The Estill girls took over the No. 1 spot in the region with their win against Bethune Bowman on Friday. If the Gators (10-3, 4-0) continue to win they will be the region champs.
"This was a key conference game that kept us in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the region," said coach Cecil Jenkins. "We must play four whole quarters to be successful because other teams will play their best against us."
The Lady Gators jumped out to an early 15-8 lead in the first quarter against Bethune-Bowman. They also came on strong in the second quarter, outscoring Bethune-Bowman 18-6. By halftime the Lady Gators had a 19-point lead.
In the fourth quarter Jenkins used some of his more inexperienced players to give them valuable playing time and Bethune-Bowman outscored the Gators 17-6. It still wasn't enough to pull out a win.
The Lady Gators keep improving and in this game, they managed to steal the ball over and over again like taking candy from a baby. Lydia Mikell had a good night scoring 14 points and Alyssa Whitney scored 12 points. Jashena Mitchell had eight and Laticia Garvin and Jaimee Isham had seven each.
"I was proud of the team for maintaining their focus," said Jenkins.
Earlier in the week the Lady Gators picked up a big region win over Branchville, 79-36. The Lady Gators outscored Branchville in every quarter but came on especially strong in the first quarter, 26-4, and in the third, 24-12.
Aaliyah Loadholt had a good night as did Mikell, with both scoring 12 points. Bernesha Youmans, Garvin, and Akennia Jennings all scored 10 points.
On Saturday, the Lady Gators picked up another close win over region rival Allendale-Fairfax 55-52. Estill was outscored in the first quarter and the third but they still managed to battle through to win.
"This was a hard-fought victory against the coaches poll No. 2 ranked girls team in single A," said Jenkins. "We struggled the first half with out defensive assignments but cam back in the third quarter and made some minor adjustments."
With the Lady Gators' win against the Tigers, they managed to hold onto their No. 1 place in the region.
The Lady Gators host Denmark-Olar (5-4, 3-2) in a region contest on this Friday. They also play another home game against non-region rival Ridgeland on Saturday. Ridgeland (12-5, 5-1) averages 49. 6 points per game and Estill averages 48.3. This will be a close game that will help the Lady Gators prepare for the road ahead of them. Next Tuesday the Lady Gators face Bamberg-Ehrhardt (9-9, 3-5) in a region game.