CALEDONIA — Everything seemed to be going to plan for Caledonia girls basketball during Tuesday night’s crucial game against Houston in the MHSAA Class 4A, District 3 tournament.
Defending home court, the Cavaliers had the crowd on their side and a great deal of momentum heading into halftime with a 27-14 lead.
Unfortunately, Tuesday was a tale of two halves as the Hilltoppers had much more success with their full-court press, causing a plethora of Caledonia turnovers and leading to easy baskets.
In an instant, that double-digit lead turned into a near double-digit deficit as the Cavs eventually fell, 56-53.
“They showed press in the first half, but it was a tale of two teams,” head coach Ame Walker said. “First half, we executed perfectly. Second half, a couple of calls right off the bat didn’t go our way and we just kind of fell apart.”
It was a head-scratcher of a second half for Caledonia (15-8), who has been in the midst of a history-making season, having already qualified for the Class 4A state tournament later this month.
All signs were pointing toward a potential run at a district title based on that first half, but when that second half began, Houston played like it wanted the win more.
“We let down a little bit,” sophomore center Ashia Williams said. “We got our hopes up. …We were frustrated with each other, frustrated at the game as the second half continued. Moving forward, we’re a team, so we can’t keep doing that.”
Much of that frustration stemmed from the Hilltoppers finally finding success defensively where they didn’t in the first half.
For Caledonia, nothing seemed to go right when it needed to, as they were outscored 42-26 in the second half.
There’s still a chance to salvage the tournament for the Cavs, playing for third place on Friday, but with the state tournament upcoming, they hope Tuesday was just a blip in their quest to make more school history.
“We’re already in the playoffs, which is something that’s never happened with girls basketball at Caledonia, so I’m incredibly proud of my club,” Walker said. “We’re just in a slump at the wrong time. … I’m hoping in the next few days, we’re going to get back after it. One thing we won’t do is quit.”
Greenwood boys 58, Caledonia 50
Caledonia did its best to make a game out of what began as a blowout on Tuesday night against Greenwood but couldn’t quite recover from a massive early deficit.
The Cavaliers found themselves in a 22-3 hole heading into the second quarter, taking the steam out of a festive home atmosphere for their district tournament opener.
They clawed their way back in the second half, cutting the score to as little as nine points early in the fourth quarter, but the deficit proved to be too large in a 58-50 loss.
“We spotted them 22 points,” head coach Jonathan Comer said. “It’s hard to come back when you spot a team 22 points. We fought, showed a little bit of heart in the third and fourth quarter, but we still had to climb back from a 20-point deficit. That did us in, put us behind the 8-ball.”
There seemed to be no stopping Greenwood in that first quarter as every missed Caledonia (18-8) shot was answered with a made basket on the other end of the floor.
The Cavs managed to cut a near 20-point lead after the first quarter to 15 at halftime and then chipped away even further in the second half as they played with renewed energy.
That first quarter deficit, however, was in the end too much to overcome as Greenwood had the lead and time on its side in the second half.
Time ran out for Caledonia on Tuesday, but Friday is a chance for a much-needed final test before the Class 4A state tournament next week.
“We play in the third-place game on Friday,” Comer said. “There were definitely some positives in the third and fourth quarter. We need to bring the intensity from the start and not wait until the second half.”
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