Over the Christmas break, the Lady Indians showcased some of their handiwork on the hardwood, participating in the Lake Forest Invitational tournament, one of the first tournaments the girls’ basketball team has seen in several seasons. After dropping a game to Smyrna and registering a win against Delmar in the tourney, Indian River rang in the new year with a convincing victory last Friday, Jan. 2, over Stephen Decatur. But the Lady Indians were halted in their momentum this past Tuesday night, when they were visited by undefeated Laurel.

Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Abbey Miller (00) leaps for a rebound as teammate Miranda Hooper looks on in last Friday’s victory over Stephen Decatur.

The Indians got off to a strong start, widening an early first-quarter lead of 14 points behind junior Brandi Buchanan and freshman Destiny Blake. A resilient Laurel team answered back, however, capitalizing on Indian River’s missteps, closing the gap to seven points by half, and pulling into the lead by the third quarter.

Two-time all-conference guard Tomorrow Briddle rallied the Lady Bulldogs with two unanswered three-pointers to kick off the second half, followed by a third from teammate Brooke Evans. Laurel maintained a two-point lead by the end of the third and finished the evening on top, 49-46, when the final buzzer sounded.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my girls,” said Laurel head coach Kevin Walmsley. “We adjusted some things at halftime, and our girls came out with heart. We knew we had to put the pressure on.”

Briddle’s accuracy around the paint and consistency from the free-throw line helped Laurel lock up their sixth consecutive game of the season and take IR’s record to 6-5.

“[Briddle] really helped run this game,” Walmsley added. “She’s only a junior, and she’s on pace to score 1,000 points in her career. Tonight she showed that she’s the leader of this team.”

Despite the losing battle from IR, Walmsley recognized a well-organized team in the hosting Indians.

“I always thought IR had some great athletes,” he said, “and [head coach John Frye] is doing a heck of a job with that team. He’s really turned them around, and he deserves a lot of credit. I don’t doubt that we’ll see those girls again later this season and into the state tournament.”

The Indians held Laurel to only three points – a considerably low margin, as the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents an average of 21 points each game.

Mental mistakes, including missed opportunities and forced passes, contributed to IR’s demise Tuesday night.

“Laurel did a great job battling back on us,” said Frye. “We didn’t handle their 1-3-1 zone too well. It’s a tough loss to walk away from. As I told the girls, we didn’t lose the game. We just ran out of time. We got rattled a bit here and there, and the game started to get away from us. It’s tough to get back into it, but at least it wasn’t from a lack of trying. They played hard.” Buchanan led the Lady Indians on buckets, draining 25 points, including three three-pointers late in the game, keeping the score close. Blake added 11 points, while senior center Miranda Hooper capped off the evening with eight of her own, going 4-7 from the free-throw line.

While Tuesday’s loss may have been discouraging, Frye said he was pleased with the way his team has been performing over the past weeks.

“It was great to get out there in a tournament,” he said. “We had an opportunity to get some more games into the schedule and the girls enjoyed themselves. We came together as a team very well against Stephen Decatur.”

If nothing else, the game against Laurel proved to him that the team can play with the best.

“Tonight I saw that our girls can measure up to the talented teams,” he said, “and that’s what we need to do. We played right with an undefeated team. Of course, we want to win, but we have to show that we can compete with the best out there.”

The Lady Indians will continue their stretch of conference games as they travel to Delmar for a rematch this Friday, Jan. 9, and host Milford on Tuesday, Jan 13. Both games are scheduled for 7:15 p.m.