Lady Bulldogs to face ‘good’ Good Hope

Published 12:02 am Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Andalusia coach Bennie Shellhouse (back ground) said Good Hope is a good team from the many conversations he’s had with other coaches. | Andrew Garner/Star-News

Andalusia coach Bennie Shellhouse said it didn’t take him long to find out how good the top-ranked Good Hope Lady Raiders are from his fellow colleagues.

“Everybody I’ve talked to has talked about how good they are,” Shellhouse said on Monday. “They won a championship several years back. Everybody I’ve talked to said this team is better than that team.”

The sixth-ranked Lady Bulldogs will face the Lady Raiders in tonight’s Final Four semifinals at the BJCC Arena at 6.

Andalusia (29-2) beat UMS-Wright 41-35 on Saturday to claim the Class 4A South Regional Championship, and its 27th straight win.

Good Hope (33-1) is riding a 28-game win streak upon entering tonight’s contest, and has three guards in junior, Kayla Tillman, and seniors Nina Mills and Kayla Elrod, who provide the Lady Raiders as good scorers.

Tillman and Elrod are known for their performance behind the perimeter, and Mills is known to be one of the best 4A guards in the state, and along with her teammates, is looking for the state crown after sitting out in last year’s post season due to tearing her ACL at the sub regional.

Additionally, the other two starters — Cierra Jenkins and Darcie Wilson — provide a rebounding and another scoring threat for the Lady Raiders.

Shellhouse said the team will approach this game like they always do.

“We’re just going to play hard and play like we play,” he said. “If somebody’s that much better than us, then they’ll just beat us.

“I can handle that if somebody’s bette than us. If we don’t play well, then that’s something we can’t handle,” he said. “We want to play our best basketball. If our best basketball is not better than their best basketball, then we can handle that.”