Arab Lady Knights Defeat Jess Lanier Advance to Finals

Alli Smalley shoots for three points against a Jess Lanier player.  Smalley set a new 5A girls playoff record for most points scored by a single player.  Click photo to Enlarge - Photo by Dwight Hayes

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March 2, 2006  - By Dwight Hayes
From the minute the Arab Lady Knights stepped on the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center basketball court, it was obvious they had come to Birmingham to play championship class basketball.  Never mind that the civic center is probably the biggest venue any of the girls have ever played.  Never mind that they were playing the number one ranked, class 5A team in the state, Jess Lanier High School.  Never mind that they were playing for the right to advance to the final Championship game or that they were making Arab basketball history.....  They came to play basketball, and when the final whistle blew, they had defeated the Jess Lanier Lady Tigers, by a score of 62 to 51.

Alli Smalley, dazzled the audience and befuddled the efforts of the Lady Tigers trying to shut down her offensive display.  Smalley, who has averaged 20 points per game during the 05-06 season, went on a tear Thursday, racking up 41 points, including the last 13 points in the game.  Lanier seemed unable to mount a defensive strategy to counter Smalley's game.  When they pressed she easily slipped past their best efforts to drive for lay-ups or short jumpers.  When Lanier dropped back into a zone defense she was able to stand off outside the three point circle rip the net for three pointers.  When fouled, Smalley responded by hitting 100% of her free throw attempts.

But it wasn't all Smalley.  Alex King made her own mark on the game with 10 points while Anna Meinert, Tia Alexander, Courtney Gibson and Kathryn Whitlock contributed the additional points in addition to their super defensive play and ball handling.

Arab with a record of 28 and 5, led Jess Lanier 14-9 after first quarter play, 25-15 at the half, 40-34 at the end of the third quarter and ended the game with a final score of 62-51.  Jess Lanier, who was 32 and 1 going into the game against Arab, was touted as being taller and faster but Arab manage to outscore and out rebound the Lady Tigers.

Jess Lanier attempted 68 field goals during the game but sank only 20 for 29.4%, while Arab attempted 56 field goals and made 22 of the shots for a 39.3 shooting average.

In the 3 point range, Arab made 4 of 12 attempts for a 33.3% average but Jess Lanier was only able to manage an 18.2% average shooting 11 times from beyond the three point line but connecting on only 2 shots.

Arab was particularly deadly from the free throw line sinking 93% of their free throw attempts, while Jess Lanier made 64.3% of their free shots.

In the rebound department, Arab led with 45 rebounds to Jess Lanier's 39.  Arab pulled down 53.6% of the total rebounds and Lanier hauled in 46.4% of rebounds.

Individual scoring: Alli Smalley contributed 41 points, followed by Alex King with 10 points, Tia Alexander with 4 points, Anna Meinert with 3 points and Courtney Gibson and Kathryn Whitlock with 2 points each.

Arab will face Ramsay High School's Lady Rams in the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m.  Ramsay defeated Talladega, 55-37 in the other semi-final on Thursday.  Ramsay won the 5A State Championship in 2004 and 2005.