Lowell Middle School 8th Grade Girls Basketball repeats, captures crown
Lowell 29, Clark 20
It takes a special group of players to repeat as champions.
The Lowell Middle School girls 8th grade basketball team fits the bill. This group of girls has won back-to-back titles, first as 7th graders for coach Tori Langen and now in their final year at LMS with coach Ginny Fleming.
The Lady Red Devils defeated Clark Middle School 29-20 to win the 8th grade Lake Middle School Athletic Conference championship last month.
The Devils jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter and led 14-5 at the half. The third quarter had both Lowell and Clark scoring 6 points, but when the dust settled at the end of the game, the Devils came out on top 29-20. Fleming said her team came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and never let up.
“We just came out dominating,” Fleming said. “The girls just work well together. They’re quick on their feet and quick hands on defense. They’re unselfish. We’re always looking forward to the to the basket, so if we get a steal, we’re always looking ahead to see if someone’s out there for us and they can make that additional pass. They just worked really well together.”
Ashlynn Taylor scored 10 points in her final middle school game, 15 points in the semifinal round and 27 points total over her last three games. Point guard Abigail Hernandez scored 25 points in the final three games of her middle school basketball career.
The core of this team has been playing for the last five years in the Runnin’ Red Devils basketball program. In addition to Taylor and Hernandez, Fleming’s starters were Ella Adams, Aubrey Borchert and Brooke Lomalie. Rounding out the team this year were Allie Cochran, Dakota Steele and Ava DeBoer.
Fleming described Taylor as “a key component” to this year’s team, and she really kicked it into high gear for the tournament. The coach called Adams a dominant defensive player whose performance was likewise critical to the team’s success.
Fleming said Borchert is an unrelenting, physical player underneath the basket who will leave her assigned coverage to help a teammate out.
“Aubrey is a player who is dominant under the basket,” Fleming said. “She’s a good communicator under there.”
Lomalie, who plays point guard, leads the team offensively at the top, according to Fleming. She said her squad relies on her as she instills confidence in Devils on the court.
Hernandez likewise leads the team with strength, determination and tenacity. Fleming eluded to the point guard as being the clear cut leader of this team. She said they lost Hernandez to a concussion for a few games at the beginning of the season. Since she was akin to a co-pilot for Lomalie, Fleming said, her presence was missed in the early part of the season.
However, when Hernandez came back, she came back with a vengeance.
“She’s a key scorer for the team,” Fleming said. “She’s an aggressive defensive player. She agitates her opponent. You’re like ‘Oh, don’t put her on me.’”
The thing Fleming noted from the time this team won the championship as 7th graders to the time the same group won the title this year is their growth. They’re going to be a more refined team when she hands them back off to Langen, now the junior varsity coach for the Devils, next season.
“I would say probably having more confidence in each other, letting go of the selfishness of ‘I need to score.’” Fleming observed of her team’s maturity. “Looking at it as a team as a whole is like there’s no ‘I’ in team. We have to do this together. I think the teamwork came together and was a major growth for this team.”