Carver girls basketball advances to the Final Four - but it will be without its star player
Carver girls basketball coach Anson Hundley stepped through the doors leading into the hallway tucked behind the school’s basketball court. A towel sat draped across his shoulder, his plaid shirt untucked and he wore a scowl on his face. He walked down the hall, went around a corner, then shouted a few words. A loud thud followed.
The scene was not typical for a coach whose team had just advanced to its second straight Final Four and is one game away from a second consecutive GHSA class 4A state basketball championship game appearance.
Carver’s 70-63 win over Woodward on Tuesday came with a massive caveat: Tigers senior star Olivia Cochran, a Louisville commit, McDonald’s All-American and the only Carver basketball player to have her jersey retired (boys or girls) picked up two technical fouls in Tuesday night’s heated contest.
A GHSA spokesperson told the Ledger-Enquirer Wednesday morning that Cochran will miss both the semifinal and, should Carver make it, the state title game.
“We’ve got to figure out how to do things the right way,” Hundley said Tuesday night. “If we want to win. We didn’t do things very good tonight. We tried to figure out every way to lose this game.”
Without Cochran, the Carver girls basketball team is about to learn what its made of. The Tigers must play better than they did Tuesday to beat a Troup team that is talented, deep and on a roll.
Hundley insists that the Tigers are deeper than Cochran, who led the Tigers with 23 points against Woodward. Four Tigers players scored in double digits, including junior guard Kionna Gaines who had 14 points.
Carver without Olivia Cochran
The Tigers may be more than the “Cochran Show,” but her absence leaves a gaping hole in the interior of Carver’s lineup.
Cochran’s size — she’s 6-1 — typically opens up the rest of the offense since she draws so much attention. Defense was a problem for the Tigers on Tuesday (it was an issue for both teams), as the Tigers could never fully settle into their full-court press. Had the War Eagles made even a third of their shots in the second half, the final score would’ve looked quite different.
Style points don’t matter at this point. The Tigers are still one win away from another title appearance. But it will likely take a much different performance to get past a talented Troup team.
And Carver will have to do it without its best player.
“We’re going to play, and we’re going to do what we do,” Hundley said. “We’re looking to win. ... We’re going to keep it moving. Everybody plays a part on this team, not just Olivia Cochran. We’ve all got to pull together and figure out what’s our next step.”
OTHER TEAMS IN ACTION
- Spencer boys fall to Glenn Hills 76-69.
AHSAA 7A Final Four: Central girls vs. Hoover (BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Alabama), 10 a.m. EST Thursday.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 9:28 PM.
