Linden stuns Decatur Heritage for semifinal win
BIRMINGHAM — Linden is in the Class 1A state championship game for the first time in school history after downing Decatur Heritage 58-44 at Legacy Arena Monday morning.
“Linden’s a great team. I don’t know where they came from because I didn’t know who they were and then all of a sudden they burst on the scene,” Decatur Heritage coach Paula Armstrong said. “They’re a good team. That’s a really good team.”
Linden trailed for a total of 20 seconds in the contest, falling behind for the first time with 4:55 to go in the second quarter when Chandler Sparkman put Decatur Heritage up 15-14. Linden’s Imiya Agee wasted little time putting her team back on top, draining a three to put her team up 17-15 with 4:35 until half. Linden never trailed again.
“We hit some shots and we scored off their press, scored some layups off their press. Then I think we were in a two or three possession game and I think we went to the three a little too quick,” Armstrong said. “We should’ve kept pounding it on the inside a little bit. When you’re down, that’s natural. A shooter wants to shoot.”
The Lady Patriots took a 22-19 lead into the halftime locker room and found themselves knotted at 24 when Kaitlyn Cheatham buried a triple off a Savanna Naylor assist with 6:26 to go in the third.
“Initially our defense was set to what we’ve been doing to get us here: the 2-3, pack it in, everybody help dropping,” Linden coach Teressa Bolden said. “We paid a little more attention to (Sparkman) because we definitely have to respect her. She is a very good post player so we tried to keep our girls in until somebody went to the corner, pack them in and try to help with her.”
Linden then embarked upon an 8-0 run. Agee picked a Decatur Heritage pocket and took it the distance for a layup with 5:40 to go in the third. Amber Richardson then buried a pair of shots off of Dajia Miller assists before Tomysha Boykin finished a drive at the 4:28 mark to stretch the advantage to 32-24.
“They got a lead and we had to pull out and start playing man and that’s kind of where the wheels fell off a little bit. Quick team,” Armstrong said.
Cheatham kept her team in it with another shot from deep with 4:11 left in the third. DHCA got as close as six in the frame before Richardson scored off an Agee assist with 52 seconds left in the third and then dropped a transition drive off a Miller assist at the buzzer to up it to 42-32.
Decatur Heritage cut into the lead in the fourth off a Cheatham three, an Andrea Ayers jumper and a Sparkman shot to slice the deficit to 44-39 with 4:45 to go.
Linden went 10-for-18 from the free throw line in the game’s final 3:48 to put the game away.
Richardson led Linden with 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals. She and Miller, who had seven assist in the game, are in their first year with the Lady Patriots after John Essex closed in May 2014.
“They’ve made a big difference. They’re both talented. We already had a lot of talent ourselves, but their additions have made our team complete,” Agee said of the difference the addition of the former Essex players has made for a Linden team that had not previously made it out of sub-regionals since 2002.
“It’s an honor to play under Coach Bolden. This is her first year coaching me. I’m proud to be a Lady Patriot and to be under her wing,” Richardson said.
Agee added 18 points and five rebounds in the effort. Decatur Heritage saw Cheatham score 18 points while Sparkman had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Linden connected on 14 of its 26 free throw attempts in the game while Decatur Heritage did not attempt a single free throw. DHCA took 36 of its 52 shot attempts in the game from beyond three, connecting on only eight of them.
Linden (18-6) moves on to the Class 1A championship game Thursday at 4 p.m. where it will face Spring Garden, who knocked off reigning state champion Keith 50-34 Monday.