BROOKSVILLE – Hosting a regional quarterfinal for the first time against an opponent having made a lengthy trip, Hernando Christian Academy head coach Mike Drummond figured his team needed a fast start. Fortunately for the Lady Lions in Thursday’s Class 2A, Region I girls basketball quarterfinal, Cayla Phillips was up to the task. The junior guard sank a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight of her game-high 16 points, as HCA built a 16-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised to a 46-29 victory over Jacksonville-Eagle’s View.
“All of our 3-point shooters are good, but she tends to be our more consistent one,” Drummond said. “If she can get those shots early; she’s a streaky shooter, and we know she’s on and we’re going to have a good game.”
It was very good from the home team’s perspective. The Lady Lions (16-4) claimed their first-ever regional win, on the heels of winning their initial district crown last week. In Tuesday’s semifinals, HCA will host Ocala-St. John Lutheran, a district rival it has already defeated three times this season. “It feels amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s a good feeling to know we can accomplish something like this,” Phillips said. “The last five or six games, my shot has been really good. I think it’s just staying positive and knowing that if I miss one I can still make another one, and I just keep pushing myself to work harder.
“I enjoy making threes for our team, and I enjoy the feeling it gives me to make threes, too.”
Coming into the night, Phillips had hit on 20 shots from the beyond the arc, and was averaging 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 steals per contest. “To me, I think I’ve played very well,” Phillips said. “I think I’ve improved a lot since I started in freshman year. Now that being a junior has come around, I realize that practice is really what pulls it out for you.
“Shooting and dribbling and knowing the game (has progressed). Knowing when to do what things and basketball IQ really helps.”
Having started playing basketball, as well as volleyball and softball, as a seventh-grader, Phillips has been a key player on the varsity hoops squad the past three seasons. She averaged 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals as a freshman, then 5.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.7 steals in 2014-15. “When she started out as a freshman, she had this wanting to give up (mentality) when things weren’t going well for her,” Drummond said. “But she’s really matured into a very, very good player; leader on the floor. And man, I’m glad she’s a junior. I got her back next year.
“If we can get the defense to loosen up, she hits a couple threes, it kind of spreads them out and then we can go inside. So it’s (her shooting) huge.”
Though she has tried to add versatility to her game, Phillips doesn’t mind being labeled a shooter. Playing in the backcourt with senior point guard Mary Jackson, the 5-foot-3 Phillips has been able to play off the ball. However, with Jackson sidelined by foul trouble throughout Thursday’s game, Phillips had to take on more of the ball-handling duties. She tallied three assists to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. It could be a preview of next season following Jackson’s graduation.
“I hope to be the leader for the team, to keep them going so they stay positive,” Phillips said. “If I have to take on the responsibility of being point guard, I know I could just because I want our team to be able to continue on and not have that feeling that we have no structure to the team. So I want to be able to keep that structure and keep it like a family.”
What happens beyond that, she’s unsure. She hasn’t really taken a hard look at the possibility of playing any sports in college. But for at least the next few days she can stay focused on this season, as the Lady Lions hope to have a few more wins left in the tank. “If we stay the way we are and keep pushing ourselves, I think we could go all the way,” Phillips said. “We’re really focused on winning. We’ve had that mindset since before districts. Since preseason we wanted to go all the way.
“I’ve never experienced anything like (making team history). So being able to do that, it’s very good.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.