The Pine Bluff girls basketball team hasn’t waited as long as the boys team to play a game, but the Fillies have to follow Tuesday’s 77-35 home win against Wynne with a rivalry shootout against the defending state 5A champion Watson Chapel Lady Wildcats.
In Fillies coach Loy Moore’s eyes, it’s a friendly rivalry.
“All of them have played together in the summer, softball, AAU basketball,” Moore said. “It’s not like it was 10 years ago when I first came here. It’s like the kids all know each other now, whereas it’s not that big of an unknown over there.”
Moore knows the Lady Wildcats’ strength is their inside game. Watson Chapel has a height advantage with 6-foot Kamera Bozeman and 6-1 Jasmine Bell, both juniors, playing on the low blocks against Marquitta Armour, Pine Bluff’s tallest player at 5-10.
“They have the advantage in the paint, and that’s where they’re going to try to go,” Moore said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pine Bluff (5-2), however, has shot well in its last three games while building a little more consistency, he added. He thinks tonight’s came could come down to shooting as well.
“I think we’ll get shots; we just have to put the ball in the hole,” Moore said. “If we do, we have a chance. If we don’t, it’ll be tough.”
Moore said it will be a game-time decision whether freshman guard Jasmyn Eckermann plays tonight. Eckermann has not practiced the last two days with a hand injury.
Like the Wildcats, the Lady Wildcats have been playing in the Cabot tournament with another game to go Saturday. They were 2-2 going into Thursday’s game there.
For the Fillies, it’s a matter of preparing for a tough road game, although the road to Watson Chapel is only minutes long.
“I try to schedule where we build into conference,” Moore said. “This is the next step. We need a tough, road challenge and we’re fixing to get one.”