USA Ultimate

2016 High School Southerns Day 2 Girls' Recap

Gameplay started early for the ninth-place bracket, with Green Hope defeating North Carolina School of Science and Math, pitting them against Independence High School who had just defeated Paideia JV. Despite a strong defensive line from Independence, Green Hope managed to defeat them 10- 5, and retain their original ninth-place standing.

 

 

Afterward, the quarterfinal round started. With no upsets on Saturday, Sunday was no different in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Paideia took the win over seventh-seed University School of Nashville. Second-seed Carrboro took half, then the game against sixth-seed Brookwood, putting them up against Paideia in the semifinals. Fifth-seed Grady worked hard against third-seed East Chapel Hill. They lost 5-8, but not without making East Chapel Hill struggle for each point. The game to watch in quarters, however, was fourth-seed HB Woodlawn against eighth-seed Yorktown/Washington-Lee. A spirited game, both teams worked together to resolve a call on the field despite the high tensions as points were traded back and forth. YLee matched Woodlawn point for point, with a layout block from defensive star Katherine Sanz. After cap was called, Woodlawn managed to score their game point, moving them onto semifinals against East Chapel Hill.

 

Even with the loss, YLee went on to win their last game against fifth-seed Grady, which gave them a tie for fifth place overall, a huge success for the team. USN also took the win in their fifth-place tie game against Brookwood. 

 

 

The semifinals started with the top four seeds facing off against each other. Paideia and Carrboro traded points before Paideia managed a break and pulled ahead, taking half and continuing to win 10-5. The East Chapel and Woodlawn game started similarly, but Woodlawn managed to keep their lead and took half an hour into the game. A few long points later, Woodlawn secured their win, and the anticipation for the final game rose as the fourth seed went on to face the defending champions from Paideia.

 

 

In the final game, Paideia started by pulling to Woodlawn. The wind started to pick up, and the teams began to battle it and each other, as turnovers continued to occur. Paideia scored the first point, but Woodlawn fought back and took the next. The third point was a tough battle against the wind for both teams; the point continued for 10 minutes before a timeout was called by Woodlawn. It was a solid call, as shortly afterwards, they finally scored the point. The teams continued to trade points, and when they were up a break, Woodlawn managed to take the game to half with only 15 minutes remaining in the round. Paideia kept their cool and seemed unflustered during halftime, circling up with their coaches to discuss strategy. Minutes after the half ended, Paideia scored, making the count 6-7. With the hard cap on, the next point would decide whether or not Paideia was still in it. A pull to Woodlawn, a sudden turnover, and Paideia had a chance to tie the score when a huck down the field went to an open player who landed out of bounds. With another chance to score, Woodlawn didn’t hesitate to work the disc down the field, and freshman Ellie Heil grabbed the game-winning point.

 

With the loss, Paideia still stayed true to the real classification of ultimate players – unprompted by their coaches, they came over and congratulated Woodlawn on their success, outside of the standard "line-up and high-five" all teams do. They hugged, high-fived and wished the Woodlawn girls good luck, because next year, they’ll be back at it again.