Stratford girls win 10th game, defeat Trinity Christian 63-52

The Stratford girls basketball team continued its hot start to the 2025-26 season and notched its 10th win Monday afternoon, defeating Trinity Christian 63-52 in the first game of the Tattnall Christmas Classic.

The Eaglettes fought through some foul trouble and some timely shooting from the Knights and eventually pulled away thanks to a potent offense fueled by junior sharpshooter Shannon Smith (19 points) and star senior Camiyah Hudson (18 points).

It was Stratford’s third time defeating Trinity Christian this year, and Eagles head coach Ed Smith knew it would be a scrappy game.

“I coached (Trinity head coach) Lacey Shepherd in high school, so I know what kind of team she’s gonna bring. We’d beaten them twice soundly, but I told the girls that it all starts over at 0-0,” Smith said. “Maddy George can score with anybody, and (Brinley Vinson) is pretty incredible down low.”

George finished with 18 points and Vinson had a game-high 20 points for Trinity Christian. The two of them accounted for more than two thirds of the Knights’ points.

“People get fired up to play us, that’s what I told the girls the other day too,” Smith said.

The gumption of Stratford’s opponents that Smith mentioned reflects the team’s lofty expectations this season. 

At 10-2 with only a few more non-region games left before crucial rivalry games come around, the Eaglettes are looking like one of the top GIAA teams in Middle Georgia. They went 23-3 last season and appeared in the GIAA Class 4A semifinals.

Those high expectations also meant that Smith was not satisfied with what he saw on the floor, even in an 11-point win.

“We’re not playing defense like we should be. We’re just not consistent. It’s way too many points for us, it’s hard to score 60 a game,” Smith said. “We need to get better on the other side of the ball.”

And yet the Eaglettes are, in fact, finding ways to score 60 points. They’ve done so in nine of their 12 games — and they scored 53, 56 and 59 in those other three games, not far off from that benchmark.

“That starts when you have a quality point guard. A good point guard lets you do a lot of things, and (Dalaila Lowe) is as good as there is,” Smith said of his team’s high-flying offense. “She opens things up for Camiyah, and it really provides shots for everybody. Hayden (Craddock) gets in there, Katherine (Causey) got some important minutes for us today as well, and Shannon can always get hot.”

Shannon Smith hit five shots from beyond the arc en route to her team-best performance. Her contributions paired nicely with Hudson and Lowe, who each routinely lead Stratford in scoring.

But every time anyone for the Eaglettes would get hot, Trinity Christian would piece together a short run to keep things close. During a two-minute run early in the second quarter, Stratford went from a 19-15 lead to a 28-15 lead and appeared to be taking control only for the Knights to bounce back and make it 32-26 before halftime.

The Eaglettes often got a bit too physical on defense, drawing fouls on the floor that kept the offense from getting too much momentum. Smith again cited the team’s recent trend of high-scoring games, including one of their only two losses this year that came in overtime against Loganville Christian Academy recently.

“In that game, we blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter. People don’t think about it, but problems on defense cause panic on offense,” Smith said. “We’ve got to find that balance. This was a good team right here, but we’re gonna play some teams that we should play well against and we need to stop giving them chances.”

Nonetheless, Stratford’s star-studded offense eventually pulled away. A 14-point third quarter while holding the Knights to 10 points extended the lead to double digits, which was enough to let the Eaglettes coast to the win.

Stratford is in good position to try and replicate last year’s region championship. The Eaglettes are right at the top of the GIAA Class 4A/3A District 6 standings with Mount de Sales. The Cavaliers were 9-1 as of Monday. FPD is not far behind with a 7-4 record so far.

Stratford finishes the Tattnall Christmas Classic with a game against Crisp Academy on Tuesday, then rematches with George Walton on Jan. 3 before region play opens against John Milledge on Jan. 6.

The Melody will update this story with other scores from the Tattnall Christmas Classic.