Do Hawks have the moxie to soar into regionals?
The Armwood girls basketball team enters the district tournament as the No. 2 seed, but the Freedom Patriots, which have beaten them twice this season, may stand in their way.
By BRYAN BURNS
Published January 27, 2006
SEFFNER - The girls on the Armwood basketball team clap in unison as they gather around head coach Jeff Pafunda at the end of another day of practice.
"Effort every day," Pafunda tells them. "No bad days."
There haven't been too many bad days for the Hawks, lately.
Armwood is 17-6 this season and receiving votes in the Class 5A state poll. Even a 40-34 loss at King in the Hawks' last district game on Jan. 19 hasn't derailed the success Armwood has enjoyed.
The Hawks enter the district tournament, which they host, as the No. 2 seed and a favorite to advance to regionals. Only Freedom (ranked No. 2 in 5A and the top seed in the district tournament) has a better district record. The Patriots were victorious in both of their matchups with Armwood, and a third matchup in the district final is likely if both teams win as expected.
Coach Pafunda and his players relish the thought of getting a third chance at knocking off Freedom and earning the district crown. However, Pafunda doesn't want to place too much stock in one game.
"I try to downplay our opponents," Pafunda said. "We want to prepare to play our best no matter who we're playing. That way, we aren't getting ourselves psyched up for Freedom in a different way than we normally would.
"We want to treat that game like every other game."
Pafunda is worried that his team will want to beat Freedom so badly that it will play out of character. That has been the case in both previous matchups with the Patriots.
In their last meeting, Freedom went up 17-6 after the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way, winning comfortably 60-52.
"The past couple of games, they kind of blew us out in the first quarter," said Willonda Windham, who averages a double-double (15.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds a game) and leads Armwood in points and rebounds. "We weren't focused from the start."
"We beat ourselves with turnovers, bad shots and missed rebounds," added Monique Reynard, who also averages double figures in scoring with 13.4 per game. "I think we're ready for them this time. It's more of a mental thing than anything."
Windham and Reynard lead an experienced Armwood team that starts five seniors and has three more seniors that come off the bench into the district tournament. The two are the unquestioned leaders of the group and are candidates for all-county selection at season's end.
Six-foot-one forward Elizabeth Stevens, three-year starter Tamika Hepburn, and Denaye Lee, a relative newcomer to the starting lineup, round out the Hawks starting five. Alicia Martinez, Shannon Powell and Charree Graham provide much-needed depth off the bench.
"We've had seven different players score in double figures this season," Pafunda said. "Not many teams can say that. I think we're the deepest team in the area."
That depth will be crucial once the Hawks enter tournament play.
As the second-best team in the district, there is a good chance they will move on to the regional tournament. The first- and second-place teams from the district tournament go to regionals.
Beyond that, it's anybody's guess as to how far this senior group can lead the Hawks.