Linden girls roll past Georgiana for sub-regional win

LINDEN – The Lady Patriots are headed back to the Class 1A South Regional in Dothan following Monday’s 53-35 victory over Georgiana. The sub-regional round opened with a series of missed layups and jumpers from Linden, but the Patriots settled in midway through the first quarter.

“Going back to defense. Defense is bringing the offense. Eventually those layups are going to fall. I have no idea why we missed so many layups there in the beginning,” Linden coach Teressa Bolden said. “We missed a lot of open shots right there.”

Linden, which never trailed in the game, tallied 24 steals in the contest to fuel its fast break offense. The Lady Pats were up 16-8 after one quarter of play and then 34-12 by halftime. Linden held an advantage in virtually every major category, outrebounding Georgiana 42-31 and shooting nine more free throws.

Amber Richardson set the pace for Linden with 18 points and 17 rebounds to go along with four steals and three blocked shots. Dajia Miller added 16 points highlighted by a 7 of 8 performance at the free throw line. Miller also had six steals and five assists on the night. Tyroneisha Charleston finished with 11 points and seven steals.

“They’re really big, especially when one is not having a good night,” Bolden said of her team’s top three scorers. “We’re always going to have to depend on somebody else to step up and fill in.”

Michaiah Austin and Aaliyah Rich each had seven points to lead Georgiana.

Linden (17-3) will face 2017 state runner-up J.F. Shields in the first round of the South Regional Friday in Dothan.

“Going back to what we know, defense. We’re going to focus on our defense and then we’ll worry about offense,” Bolden said. “Offense is going to come. We’ve got to be able to stop them and play solid defense.”