Stratford escapes slow start with roaring comeback, advances to GIAA 4A semis with 60-48 victory over FPD

No coach likes having to call a timeout only a few minutes into a game.

Stratford head coach Ed Smith had to do it with his team down 9-3.

No coach wants to call another timeout at around the same time in the next quarter, either — but Smith did it again in the second, this time with his team down 23-8.

Then he stopped calling time, and the comeback began.

After falling into an 11-point first-quarter hole and a 15-point second quarter cave, Stratford stormed back to tie and take the lead early in the third quarter before pulling away for a 60-48 win over FPD in a GIAA Class 4A quarterfinal at Stratford.

Stratford (23-2) will face St. Anne-Pacelli, a 57-25 winner over Tattnall, in the semifinals Thursday at 3 p.m. at Columbus State. The championship is Saturday at 6:20 p.m. at Columbus State.

A dream start and those big leads became a nightmare for FPD (15-12) with the loss.

FPD gave up the lead on Reagan Ray’s second 3-pointer of the third quarter, then went up 38-34 with a 7-0 run sparked by Elcee Leslein’s three.

Things went south for the Vikings soon after.

Da’Laila Lowe’s spin-and-drive bucket at the 1:59 mark of the third, followed by her drive down the left side 20 seconds later, tied it at 38 and got the Eaglettes going on a surge that gave them a 44-38 lead after three quarters.

The same team that was down by 14 in the first half took a 14-point lead with the first eight points of the fourth quarter, half from Camiyah Hudson, the inside-outside guard.

Hudson’s two free throws put Stratford up 52-38 with 6:20 left in the game. That made for a 28-point turnaround from midway through the second quarter to early in the fourth.

FPD led 23-8 at the 5:09 mark of the second quarter after Ava Wasden’s 3-pointer off a Bowen Matthews pass. The Vikings came up empty on their next three trips, while Stratford opened the second quarter whiffing on four of its first five possessions. The margin was 25-10 after Matthews’ drive when Da’Laila Lowe gambled on a steal and missed with 3:10 left.

It was a few minutes after a timeout that the Eaglettes hit the reset button.

“We just gotta stop pouting,” Smith said. “Things weren’t going well on offense, and we stopped defending. You’re either going to pout or you’re going to play, or the season’s going to be over.”

Stratford chose to play.

The Eaglettes got going a little and the Vikings started slowing up a bit. Hayden Craddock capped the second quarter for Stratford with a pair of 3-pointers within the final 25 seconds, including one to beat the buzzer and pull the hosts within 25-23 at halftime, FPD going dry after that Matthews drive.

“Katherine Causey got a big bucket when we couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” Smith said. “We made a run, and Hayden hitting those two 3s to end the half was huge.”

Stratford’s energy picked up on both ends, and the Vikings had four turnovers on five trips during Stratford’s second-quarter run.

“We haven’t been pressed a ton,” FPD head coach Doug Wasden said. “We have quick guards, and that’s the first time we’ve had a lot of pressure on us. I guess in the moment, we didn’t make the best decisions. You come down, start going to the sideline, get trapped, throw the ball away, when you know you’re supposed to throw it back.

“Tried to get in that mindset not to get out of control.”

The run at the end of the second and start of the third was 19-0 before Matthews’ two free throws 90 seconds into the third quarter. The game settled into a back-and-forth affair, the Vikings going up 38-34 after a 7-0 run. But Stratford was right back at it with 10 straight points to end the quarter for the 44-38 lead.

That surge continued with the first eight points of the fourth quarter, keyed by another Ray 3-pointer and a runner by Lowe.

Hudson led Stratford with 16 points, while all 14 of Lowe’s came in the second half. Ray and Kaliya Walker each added 10 points. Matthews and Leslein each had 16 points for the Vikings.

FPD executed one big part of the game plan, keeping post Walker in check.

“We had a goal to shut down (Walker),” Wasden said. “She had 23 against us last time, and she’s been scoring probably 20-plus every game. We held her to four baskets and 10 points. I had an eighth-grader (Bri Crosby) and a freshman (Caroline Chancellor) on her.”

But they didn’t have an answer for the outside game, or the pair of Lowe and Hudson.

“I said if they beat us from the outside, they beat us from the outside,” Wasden said. “And they hit like four threes. You just got to roll your dice.”