Lakota East ready for Reynoldsburg

Thunderhawks  coach says her team  can handle the ‘underdog’ label.

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 12:38 AM Tuesday, March 8, 2011

LIBERTY TWP. — Coach Nikki Drew expects her Lakota East girls basketball team to give tonight’s Division I regional semifinal game their best shot, but not necessarily their first one.

The Reynoldsburg Raiders, ranked fifth in the state, are up next for the Thunderhawks in a Division I regional semifinal at the Rike Center at Otterbein College in Westerville.

Drew knows that if Lakota East is going to have a chance of winning, her players need to be patient and take the best shots they can, when they can.

“We’re not going to try and get into a track meet with this team,” Drew said. “They’re very athletic, so we have to be able to handle that. Maybe even control the tempo a little bit. Now I’m not telling them to stall the ball, and I’m not telling them to be scared. They just have to be really smart basketball players.

“We’re going to work our offense a little bit to make sure that we get off the best shot, not necessarily the first shot.”

Drew pulled Jeff Edmonds, Mikey Goldman and Clay Wilson out of her physical education classes to help play defense against the Thunderhawks on Monday.

With a mix of teammates and guys playing defense, Drew emphasized patience with her offense.

Junior point guard Aleth Pashi said the team has earned the success it’s had this season. East beat Fairborn in overtime on Saturday in the district finals.

“It’s where we should be. We deserve it. We were almost here last season, and people didn’t believe we could come back. But now we’re right where we’re supposed to be,” Pashi said. East lost 67-64 to Xenia in the district finals last year.

“We play in one of the toughest conferences in the state (the Greater Miami Conference), so we’re used to playing tough teams. This is just another tough competitor for us,” she said.

Drew describes her East team as hardworking, hungry and coachable. “They’re the true sense of team. We don’t have any superstars, but we have a great team,” she said.

The regional tournament is uncharted territory for the Thunderhawks (18-5). Just three seasons ago, they finished with a 1-20 record. Drew knows Lakota East is the underdog against Reynoldsburg, but couldn’t care less.

“These girls have been considered the underdog many times, so I don’t mind it,” she said. “We can handle it.”