Goodrich girls basketball never trailed Friday night, taking a 49-24 district decision over Burkeville on the south side of Polk County.
After scoring 18 points in the first quarter for an 11-point advantage, the comfortable distance would last throughout. The Goodrich defense never allowed more than eight points in a quarter, which was the Lady Hornets’ lowest output over eight minutes.
“Tonight, I am proud of them,” Goodrich coach Pinellafie Johnson said. “In the first quarter, we did OK. In the second quarter, that is when we started playing a little bit better. Then, of course, in the second half, we came out and did what I needed us to do. I needed us to stop fouling and start playing some solid defense, allowing them to make the mistakes. We had three girls with three fouls in the first half, so I told them that we couldn't afford to do that in the second half. They had to run ahead of their man and play solid defense.”
Aaliyah Wright led the way for the Lady Hornets in the first quarter. The tall freshman did most of her damage around the bucket, with 14 points in that period alone.
“With Aaliyah Wright, we have been working with her on keeping the ball up,” Johnson said. “I told her that when she brings that ball down, we are going to suffer. She brought it down one time, but other than that, she kept that ball up in the air and scored. Everything (with the team) I was pleased with, even the shooting. It was us rebounding the ball, turning around facing our basket and outleting the ball. I was very pleased with the effort tonight.”
Wright led all scores with 26, two more points than the Burkeville total. Bra’Niyah Wyatt had eight points and Liseidy Balbuena had six.
Johnson said she was also impressed with the effort through the majority of Friday. Goodrich has clinched playoff spot with the win. They are now 7-6 in district play and in fourth place. A game at Leggett Tuesday for third place will conclude the regular season.