Braden’s 17 4Q points leads Lady Warriors; district perfect
Maddie Braden scored 17 of her game-high 31 points in the game’s final eight minutes.
“When it mattered the most, she wanted it the most,” Williams said of Braden. “In the fourth quarter she just absolutely took over and dominated.
“I can’t say enough about Maddie tonight, and it showed,” the coach added.
A huge four-point play from Braden, a three-point basket and foul shot, pushed a two-point lead to six, 42-36, with 4:16 remaining in regulation.
Two more Braden baskets, a driving 10-footer and a 7-footer off an inbounds pass, plus two free throws from the sophomore pushed the Lady Warriors lead to 48-40 with just 55.5 seconds to play.
Overall, “We were really good from the free throw line,” the CAK head coach said, as Christian Academy finished 18-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Braden herself was nine-of-nine in free throws.
Moreover, “in the fourth quarter I thought it was one of our best defensive efforts,” Williams said. “We were really making them work for shots — and not giving them any second-chance opportunities, securing our rebounds.”
Despite trailing 32-31 entering the fourth quarter, “We stayed composed, we didn’t get rattled,” the CAK coach said. “It was a really good basketball game. They played a heck of a game. We played a great game.
“I was really proud of the effort we gave collectively,” she added. “... We executed our gameplan the way we wanted to — we made them work.”
Colie Thompson, CAK sophomore guard, added 13 points, while Karlie Whited, junior guard, scored eight. Katelyn Coffman, freshman guard, had two points.
As for Grace Christian’s importance on the Lady Warriors schedule, “It’s a huge rivalry,” Williams said. “Did you see the crowd?”
In fact, “This is probably our biggest rival in the district,” she added. “Not bad blood — it’s just a good battle.” Having beaten the Lady Rams by 15 points at GCA earlier in the season, “That was a completely different game,” Williams said. “They didn’t have everybody they’ve got now.”
Improving to 14-6 overall, 6-0 in district, CAK has benefitted greatly from a tough early season schedule according to the head coach.
“We’ve played a tough schedule,” Williams said. “We lost twice to McMinn Central (Division I-AA power), we’ve lost to Heritage, we’ve lost to Sevier County, lost once to Maryville — I wish we could get that one back — and lost to Webb (School of Knoxville, currently ranked No. 1 in the latest Tennessee Sports Writers Association Division II-AA statewide poll).
“We’ve been battle-tested; we wanted to do that,” the coach added, “so that if we got in games like this one tonight, we’d be ready for big moments.
“And tonight we were ready for big moments.”
