Lady Indians look to overcome adversity

The No. 22 Chipola Lady Indians are back in action this weekend in Panama City, taking on No. 10 Vincennes today at 5 p.m.
Chipola (3-2) faces Georgia Perimeter Saturday at 1 p.m.
The top-ranked Gulf Coast Lady Commodores play as well, taking on Georgia Perimeter tonight at 7 p.m., and Vincennes Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Lady Indians are coming off of a roller-coaster weekend in Marianna, taking two out of three games against nationally-ranked opponents at home.
Chipola avenged its first loss of the season with a 62-56 win over No. 22 Monroe on Nov. 13, but the Lady Indians were blown out the following night by No. 2 Jefferson, 90-59. Starting shooting guard Jasmine Shaw suffered a season-ending ACL injury during the game.
After the game, starting point guard Bianca Jarrett was suspended indefinitely by Chipola coach David Lane for personal reasons, leaving the team with just seven players for the next game.
However, the Lady Indians bounced back on Sunday to take a 72-67 win over No. 10 Trinity Valley.
“They were just three totally different games,” Lane said. “I was happy with the way we played on Friday to see how much better we had gotten in a week, We executed better and handled things better.
“On Saturday, we fell apart when Jasmine got hurt. We didn’t handle that very well. That was just a butt-whooping, but what really made things go well was how we handled things on Sunday. The kids went out and really executed. They played the kind of game we want to play.”
Lane said that the Trinity game was a great lesson for his team in what it had to do from this point on to be successful.
“It’s just a matter of execution, focus and paying attention to details,” the coach said. “We’re just trying to get that point across that if we’re focused, we’re going to be successful. Against a very talented team in Trinity Valley, in a game people probably thought we wouldn’t win, we went out and executed and did what we had to do. That drives home the point with the kids. It’s not so much about talent as it is about execution.”
Lane said that he would revisit Jarrett’s suspension after Thanksgiving, but the Lady Indians will move forward with only seven players for the time being.
Even at full strength, beating Vincennes would be no simple task. The Lady Blazers made the national tournament last season, and return two of their top three scorers.
“It will be a big challenge for us,” Lane said. “It’s the fifth ranked team we’ve played in a row. They’ve got some really good shooters and a couple good point guards who know how to get them the ball.”
Chipola defeated Vincennes in last year’s regular season matchup but had to hold off a late Lady Blazers charge.
It’s the first of four games over the next five days, a tough task for a Chipola squad short on numbers.
“We’ve had to change some things up a bit,” Lane said. “We’ve had to go to playing a little more zone, which is difficult for me to even talk about. It’s a little bit different because we’re usually playing man and getting everybody’s sets down.
“Now, we’re playing zone, and most teams don’t run many zone sets, just a zone offense. We just have to be able find shooters and box out.”
The Lady Indians hit the road Monday to take on St. Petersburg, then travel to Tampa on Tuesday to play Hillsborough.
Lane said he has spoken with the team about overcoming the adversity it is facing, and finding a way to win regardless.
“We talked about it before the game on Sunday and after it,” the coach said. “We can build on (Sunday’s win), but we don’t have a lot of room for error. We’ve got to make sure we value the basketball, and finish with rebounds.
“We’ve got to play with the numbers we’ve got, and make sure we take care of business.”