Victory ‘Designed By Committee’
Eagles close out FCSAA opening round in style, running away from Southern Conference No. 1 seed Palm Beach State in part thanks to exemplary coaching effort.
Written By Ariel Bedford
“Wow! It’s a long time coming-for us and the TCC program. Against the number one seed-wooh!”
Such is the response after a clear-cut victory by a team that received an at-large bid just to get invited into the FCSAA Tournament. Head Coach Franqua Bedell, shortly following a 97-86 win over a talented Lady Panthers squad, exemplified the exhilaration and determination of not only his players, but entire coaching staff.
Make no mistake, while plays like mercurial forward Japonica James’ block with around three seconds left in the first half kept the game in reach, and the sharp shooting of guards Hill and Wilson are what count on the score sheet, plenty of credit goes to ‘Q and company’ for getting players to execute their best when they needed it most.
Assistant Coach Joseph Cohen’s assessment of the team’s barometer throughout the game speaks volumes. “The team...actually initiated an attack on Palm Beach...In the first quarter, second quarter, they weren’t really ‘bought in’ yet-had a little nerves, jitters. Trying to figure out what all this state tournament thing was about because it’s the first time for everybody. Once they realized they could play in this atmosphere, they just finally took off.”
It wasn’t just emotions, however, that got Tallahassee’s women a lead they wouldn’t let go. It was a stingy defense, specifically active hands within their opponent's’ paint area, that helped to cause 21 turnovers, and speed up a Lady Panther team sporting versatile frontcourt pieces in 6’1” Alexis Jean and 6’0” Jonika Garvin.
At one point early in the fourth quarter during a timeout Assistant Coach Dee Dee Jernigan was given the clipboard by Coach Q; she vigorously demonstrated to the team what needed to be done in order to limit Port St. Lucie native Jean’s effectiveness in the low post.
“What I saw was [Palm Beach State G/F Alexis Jean] being wide open in the middle of our match-up zone we were running. What I wanted to try was, kinda like a ‘Box-and-One’... So we put one person on her, battled her, fronted her-that kinda slowed them down a little bit…”
When it appeared that possibly TCC would eventually cave in to Palm Beach State after being down 48-46 at halftime, it was the steady words and persistent guidance of the entire coaching staff that gave them the focus, and legit confidence, that may have been the most unheralded difference in the outcome.
Beloved sage and staff member Assistant Coach “Goo” explained it best, when describing what Coach Q told the girls during intermission:
“Look, [Palm Beach State] went-they played as hard as they wanted to play… Now it’s time for us to go ahead and just close it out, do what we’ve worked on, play hard-and finish.”