NWF State pulls away from Chipola
By SETH STRINGER
NICEVILLE – Georgia Gayle slapped the floor three times and stared down Dekeriya Patterson, who knocked the NWF State sophomore to Mickey Englett Court on a 3-point attempt.
The whistle came. The shot dropped. Moments later Gayle's free throw – just part of a team-best 19 points – capped the 4-point play.
This was the offense that was missing in a listless first half of just six buckets and 24 points.
The fourth-ranked Raiders outscored ninth-ranked Chipola 29-16 in the third quarter, put together another defensive clinic and clinched a Region 8 Tournament berth with a 71-53 win Saturday night at The Arena.
"We played well tonight. In the second half we played well," NWF State coach Bart Walker said. "We talked to them the last couple of days about getting back to the team and getting outside of our egos. Everyone tonight sacrificed themselves and I saw a big difference in the team."
Now on to Tally, where the Raiders (22-3, 8-3) can lock up at least a Panhandle Conference co-championship alongside Gulf Coast State with a win over the Eagles on Wednesday.
Three days later the seventh-Commodores (20-4, 8-3), who have the tiebreaker over the Raiders in terms of Region 8 Tournament seeding, will host Chipola.
"Tallahassee is a tough team," Walker said. "They just beat Chipola at their place the other night and they beat Gulf Coast State twice, so in this conference you play a good team every night. We gotta finish strong and hopefully get a share of the conference."
Momentum-wise, the Raiders – ranked tops in Region 8 ahead of Gulf Coast State – can draw from Saturday night's dominant second half.
Leading 24-20 after shooting just 11 of 22 from the charity strop and 33 percent from the floor, the Raiders caught fire in the third quarter. Awa Trasi's 7-for-9 effort from the foul line highlighted a 10-minute stretch where the Raiders hit 15-of-18 free throws and got 11 points from Trasi and seven from Gayle to lead 53-36 headed into the fourth quarter.
"I think we settled in a little bit," Walker said. "We played a bit tight early and if we make some free throws, it's a bit different. We got a lot of free throws in the third quarter and made them and we did the little things well."
Back-to-back treys from Gabriela Sales and Gayle halfway through the fourth quarter proved to be the backbreaker in extending the lead to 19. By second half's end the Raiders shot 52 percent from the floor and post 47 points.
Trasi and Jaiden McCoy ended up with 14 points each and Cece Mayo added 10 to give the Raiders four players in double figure points on a chippy night when 62 fouls resulted in 68 free throws (NWF State 40, Chipola 28).
As for that defensive clinic, the Raiders limited the Indians to 27 percent shooting and a 3-for-16 clip from beyond the arc while forcing 17 turnovers and allowing just five assists. The Raiders also shined on the glass with a 41-25 rebounding edge and limited the Indians to nine second-chance points.