Twelve days before the City League girls basketball championship, Obama Academy bounced back from a demoralizing loss to top-seeded Allderdice with a 47-41 home win.
In that game, the Eagles’ defense proved troublesome for the Dragons, as it was Allderdice’s lowest scoring game in league play all season. But as the saying goes, the best teacher is experience, and Allderdice wasn’t going to be unprepared with a three-peat on the line.
“I think nothing prepares you more than getting your butt beat,” Allderdice coach Ellen Guillard said. “I think after that (loss), it helped us. Even though it (stunk) during it, it kind of helped us refocus and redirect our energy to come together as a unit to get the job done.”
The Dragons were more than ready Sunday as they trounced the Eagles, 66-29, to win their third straight City league title in the teams’ fifth consecutive meeting in the championship game.
“It means a lot,” Guillard said. “I’m definitely grateful to get here every time. The feeling of winning doesn’t get old, like I don’t take it for granted. I’m happy and thankful we get to close out another senior class on top.”
Senior guard Bailey White, the game’s MVP for the third straight season after dropping 32 points, didn’t bask in her glory and instead shone a light on her teammates.
“I couldn’t have done it without this team,” White said. “They mean a lot to me. We work together as a team. We’ve been working up to this since my freshman year. We lost freshman year, but then we came back sophomore, junior and then senior year.
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches.”
While White scored nearly half of Allderdice’s points, the Dragons’ defense did more than enough to bury the Eagles (13-8), forcing 32 turnovers. Fourteen of those came in the first quarter, signaling what was to play out for all 32 minutes.
In the opening 72 seconds of the game, Allderdice (18-6) was 3 of 4 from the field, building a 9-0 lead before Obama coach Monique McCoy had to call her first timeout at the 6:48 mark. The timeout was an attempt to stop the run, but the avalanche was only just beginning to build.
Allderdice proceeded to score 12 of the game’s next 14 points, building a 21-2 lead with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter. By the end of the period, the Dragons led 23-6, and White had 14 points.
The scoring was closer in the second quarter, with Allderdice holding a 16-8 advantage, but the damage was already done. The halftime score was 39-14, and after White’s 25th point at the 5:55 mark of the third, the mercy rule kicked in with Allderdice leading 46-14.
The Dragons scored 20 more points over the final 14 minutes to reach the final score of 66-29.
Allderdice shot 46% from the field, including 43.8% from 3-point range. Obama, which was led by 10 points from Qi’Nyla Dandridge, shot 31% from the field and 33% from behind the arc.
Allderdice next advances to the PIAA tournament for the third straight season. Last year, the Dragons lost to Canon-McMillan in the opening round 48-44.