MOBILE – The road to Birmingham was blocked against the R. C. Hatch Lady Bobcats this past Friday morning in the 2A southwest regional final, as they bowed to the Calera Lady Eagles 61 – 51. The third quarter proved to be the difference in the game when, the Hatch offense could only hit 3 out of 10 shot, committed 9 turnovers, and wound up on the short end of a 16 – 3 run in the last four and a half minutes of the quarter. Calera outscored the Lady Bobcats 20 – 9 in the 3rd to build a 10-points advantage. Hatch’s poor shooting made it tough to come back from the deficit. The Lady Bobcats missed their starting center Latoria Paige, who has been sidelined by illness for most of the season. They need another experienced frontline player to help combat the Lady Eagles center and tournament MVP Shanavia Dowdell, who in spite of double and triple coverage she was able to pour in a game high 36 points. They also missed Jamarica Cheese who has missed the last three games due to knee injury.

“We’re proud of our team,” said Hatch coach Walter Abraham. “They’ve done a great job all season.”

The Lady Bobcats held the edge in the first two quarters of the game.

They scored the first five points of the game and led by as much as eight points in the first quarter. The quarter ended at 16-13 with 10 points and two triples from senior Sierra Miller. Calera came back to tie the game in the second quarter. But the Hatch defense shut the Lady Eagles down the last 3:22 of the quarter and went into the locker room with a slim 25-24 margin.

In the third quarter, with the score tied at 31 and 4:38 showing on the clock, the Lady Bobcats turned the ball over in the next five possessions that led to nine Calera points. The quarter ended at 44 – 34. Shooting didn’t fair well for the Lady Bobcats in the fourth either. But with 2:29 left in the game Dowdell committed her 5th foul. Down by 12 the Lady Bobcats knew this would be a good time to find their offense. They put up 11 shots in the stretch but could only knock down 2, plus two free throws. “We didn’t play as well as we should have,” added Coach Abraham. Final score: 61 – 51.

Hatch was led by Miller’s 23 points. Ahjah Mitchell added 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Janita Essex had 11 rebounds and 4 points. Vinecia Dudley who has scored in double figures all season was held to just six points.

Dowdell of Calera pulled down game high 16 rebounds. Both Mitchell and Dudley made the all-tournament team representing R. C. Hatch who closes their season with a 26 – 2 record. There were a large number of Lady Bobcat fans at the game inspite of a 9am, Friday morning start. Coach Abraham said after the game,

“We want to thank R.C. Hatch High School and the fans of Uniontown for supporting us all year. We will be back here next year.”