Youth Movement: Battle-tested Lady Indians again make deep playoff run
Young players, newcomers push TFS to second straight Elite 8
The Lady Indians shoved the narrative that they were too young to compete or go far in the state tournament. Despite having one senior in standout guard Lia Sanjur, Tallulah Falls built around a solid core and made a second straight state quarterfinal run.
The overall record of 7-14 is not indicative of the type of team these girls were. Facing a region that consists of four of the top-five ranked teams in the state, TFS battled throughout the campaign.
Multiple times, Jo Kimbrel's team took those top teams down to the final minutes. Tallulah being battle-tested all season paid off in the long run, and will pay dividends going forward as well.
Even with the Lady Indians' historic seasons in the past, the team had only collected two known top-10 ranked wins. This season, three of the seven overall victories came against ranked teams - twice over Bethlehem Christian and once over King's Academy in the Sweet 16.
TFS was led in scoring by juniors Klara Dvorakova and LB Kafsky. Kafsky also led in rebounds with 179, marking a top-10 rebounding season in school history. She had 11 blocks and 50 steals, leading the team in all three of those categories. Sanjur led with 63 assists.
That duo earned All-Region honors, while sophomore Marta Beltran, Sanjur, and freshman Nora Mitchell were named Honorable Mentions. Gracey Eller, Ines Gil, and Linda White were among the others that proved to be crucial to the team's success with some big moments down the stretch.
The playoff run included a 10-point win at King's Academy to punch a ticket to the Elite 8 for the second year in a row and third time overall.