Cottondale seeks second win over NFC

COTTONDALE - If Cottondale can duplicate a November girls basketball victory over North Florida Christian Saturday, the rest of the state is going to discover Chris Obert’s dual duty as head coach of the boys and girls teams.

The Hornets’ boys were eliminated in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals Thursday night at Pensacola Christian, but an inaugural trip to the Final Four in Lakeland for the girls is possible if NFC can be conquered at 7 p.m.

If that itinerary wasn’t complicated enough, Obert was on the road late Friday morning trying to track down an extra rack of basketballs for the 3-point shooting eliminations the FHSAA holds in each classification.

“It wasn’t like I had anything else to do,” he cracked.

At least his double duties enable him to put playoff losses behind him in a hurry.

“When one loses I feel bad for those kids, especially the seniors because it’s their last game, but you have to put it in the back of your mind,” Obert said. “Last year the girls lost in the region finals and we had the same situation where I had to get ready to coach the boys. There’s no time to mourn.”

Cottondale is 28-2 and facing a 25-4 NFC team it beat 49-41 at home.

“That’s big there,” Obert said of hosting again. “I feel like we play much better at home. We play well on the road, but we’re more relaxed at the house.”

Cottondale advanced with a 42-37 win at Ponce de Leon while NFC won 61-46 at West Gadsden County. The Hornets start three of their four seniors in Sharissa Forward, Briana Gray and Kidada Paul, with Brianna Williams coming off the bench. Their leading scorer, however, is junior Shaunte Forward at 17 per game.

The Eagles are led by senior Melanie Warner and Samantha Phillips, with former Covenant standout Samantha Stephens another key player. Warner had 21 points and 13 rebounds, Phillips 18 points and seven assists and Stephens eight points in the semifinal win.

“She’s strong inside, but can step out and handle it and shoot it,” Obert said of Warner. “She’s a good rebounder, a heckuva player and has signed with Hampton already.

“Phillips has nice size, is strong, a good shooter. She’s a scorer. Those two make it go, and Stephens is their third scorer.”

Obert feels like the strength of his team is its mental toughness, but added that he’s stressing to his players to relax and have fun.

“We have played some of the toughest competition you can play the last couple of seasons, we’ve been everywhere,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we don’t let the moment weigh us down with pressure.”