It was an easy win Saturday night for the Selma High School Lady Saints…maybe too easy for Anthony Harris.

The Lady Saints coach was less than impressed with his team’s play despite Selma’s 54-28 beating of the Southside High Lady Panthers.

The county rivalry was played at Wallace Community College Selma in front of a standing room only crowd. The Selma fans may have been thrilled with the Lady Saints’ execution, but the game left Harris looking for answers, especially following the team’s 61-52 loss to Jeff Davis.

“We’re still not very aggressive,” Harris said. “We lost our focus at some point. We just don’t have any enthusiasm. We lack our senior leadership.”

What the Lady Saints didn’t lack against Southside was plenty of speed. Selma opened the game on a 21-3 run keyed by several steals that turned into points. Amina Wufford ignited the run with a theft of Tiffany Anderson at mid-court. Wufford took the ball the distance for a layup and an 8-3 Selma lead.

Selma forward Gabrielle Goudy was one very bright spot for the Lady Saints. The post player hit the boards hard and often while also driving through the paint. Goudy drove through the middle of the Southside man-to-man defense to lay in the shot and draw the foul. Although she did not convert the three-point play, Goudy followed her shot, slipped past two Lady Panthers’ defenders and hit a jumper from the foul line to give the Lady Saints a 14-3 advantage.

“Gabrielle played tough off the boards for me,” Anthony said.

“She’s really in there hustling on every play.”

Shameika Simpson also made a dramatic impression on the game. The guard scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, including a three-pointer from the top of the key followed by a running baseline layup to make it 21-3. Simpson also did the job defensively, stealing a Southside pass and setting up guard Ashley Green, who drove the right baseline for the easy layup and a 25-9 lead.

Little went right for the Lady Panthers, who managed just one basket in the second quarter and found themselves trailing at halftime, 32-9.

Erica Lumpkin also helped on the post for Selma. Lumpkin opened the third period by bullying her way inside for an offensive rebound and layup. She followed that with another offensive rebound, then took the ball out past the foul line where she drained the shot to give the Lady Saints a 36-9 lead.

The large margin gave Harris a chance to play some younger Lady Saints. Jorelle Scott came through with a solid defensive performance, pressuring Southside into turnovers. Scott also nailed a pair of jumpers from the left corner to stretch Selma’s lead to 50-17 early in the final period.

The victory was an important one for the Lady Saints (5-2), who open area play this week. Selma hosts Prattville on Wednesday night before traveling to Birmingham to face Anderson next Saturday. The Lady Saints also will host Keith on Dec. 21.

The upcoming area schedule had Harris concerned.

“Most of the teams in our area have stepped up their games, but not us,” he said. “We’re not playing up to our potential. We’re a great team. There’s just something missing. I don’t know what it is. We just have to keep working.”