Pine Grove has had perhaps their toughest playoff path of their championship run this season. That continues on Thursday
Who: Pine Grove takes on the Hickory Flat Lady Rebels
What: Third Round MHSAA basketball playoffs
Where: ICC
When: Thursday, February 27th at 4 pm
The Opponent
Hickory Flat brings the best record in 1A North girls basketball this season into the contest and has consistently been ranked in the top 5 1A girls teams in the state.
Oh, and they have the state’s top overall scorer in R’Daztiny Harris.
The Lady Rebels run most of their action through the capable Harris but they also have some pieces that can be dangerous, including sharpshooter Abby Tatum.
Hickory Flat won a pair of tighter than expected contests in their two playoff games against Blue Mountain and Wheeler
The Lady Panthers
Simply put, Pine Grove has been the class of 1A for the last four seasons, holding down the #1 MaxPreps ranking since 2017 and racking up three straight state titles. This season they are 27-8 and have playoff wins over West Union and TCPS.
The unique thing about Pine Grove is their mentality to bring absolute effort to every game, no matter the opponent. They will need that in this dangerous third round game.
Loren Elliott, Karlie Rogers, Bella Jumper will be called upon to use their “been there, done that” third round experience to keep their team grounded.
Keys to victory
Pine Grove will have to contain Harris and limit second chance opportunities for the Lady Rebels. Hickory Flat is best when they are creating turnovers and scoring in transition, so ball contol will be important for Pine Grove.
Look for Kenzie Miller to have opportunities to drive as attention on the perimeter is focused on Jumper and Elliott.
