Two michiana girls basketball teams advance to semi-state

 

LAPORTE, Ind., --- Girls high school basketball regional play tipped off on Saturday and two Michiana teams will advance to the next round.

Laporte High School hosted the 4A regional bracket while Jimtown hosted the 3A.

In 3A play Mishawaka Marian faced Tippy Valley, looking to punch their ticket to semi-state, but unfortunately fell short 54 to 67.

Within the same bracket at Jimtown, Fairfield took down Highland 40 to 32 and will now advance to semi-state.

Now for the 4A games LaPorte High School, first on the docket was Washington who took on Valparaiso.

The undefeated Panthers came out on top 60 to 41 despite losing senior captain Amiyah Reynolds who tore ligaments in her left foot in the last game of the regular season and is now out for the rest of the season.

“This is new territory for me, you know, I'm not going to hide that like it's been difficult for me to coach you know with the broken heart you know, I wish she could be a part of this. But I'll tell you what man has been amazing because I can still hear her voice out on the court. You know, kids are just repeating what she would normally say,” said Washington Head Coach Steve Reynolds.

“It's kind of hard because it's like adjusting Amiyah is the one who gets the ball up to me and like I'm getting it up to somebody else who's scoring but now I have to do it I have to get the bots like Monique, Riya, and Kira all them so like it's really been different from just trying to make that adjustment,” added teammate Rashunda Jones.

The Panthers are regional champs for the third year in a row, pulling off the win Saturday despite a slow start to the game.

“The second half was really just paying attention to what we wanted to get done. And doing at a higher level. Obviously, it helps having Kira you know, back on the court, she was great. Anchoring us tonight. And then Shonda, you know, obviously, just being super solid, gave us 32 Great minutes tonight. So I'm extremely happy for them,” said Renyolds.

 “We just had to keep grinding it. Minute by minute. Second by second. We just had to keep grinding. None of our shots are really falling in the first half. So we just kept playing,” added Jones.

The Northridge raiders also played Saturday, taking on Lake Central, with Central getting the win 42 to 29.