MACON, Ga. - Hephzibah coach Wendell Lofton has often talked about retiring from coaching and giving his job to assistant coach Kim Schlein.
After the defensive scheme Schlein devised Saturday night against Kendrick, Lofton's protege' might be ready to take over.
Schlein put together a simple 2-3 zone defense in the third quarter that limited Kendrick's scoring from the wing, propelling the Lady Rebels into the Class AAAA state semifinals for the second straight season with a 57-51 win at the Macon Coliseum.
"She's been carrying my defense all year," Lofton said. "When she's ready, I'll be ready to get on out. But I've got four seniors that I want to help get into college first."
Lofton also has his sights set on an elusive state title, something that has eluded him two times in the previous four years.
After a sluggish first quarter in which Hephzibah trailed by as many as seven points, the Lady Rebels caught up and played see-saw before falling behind 29-27 at halftime.
"We were tired in the first quarter from the long ride," said sophomore Charlotte Styles. "The second quarter, we got it together."
Kendrick's offense, which centers on one guard penetrating inside, then kicking the ball to another guard on the wing who buries the jump shot, held its own against the No. 4 Lady Rebels in the first half.
"I told them at halftime, 'well, I guess ya'll don't want to go to Georgia Tech."' Lofton said. "They started looking around like 'we better go out there and play."'
Hephzibah's determination combined with Schlein's zone held Kendrick to just 1-of-14 shooting from the floor in the third quarter, including an 0-for-9 span in the first 4:23 where LaCoya Terry and Chantal Murray keyed a 10-0 run to make it 39-29.
While Hephzibah's zone took away the perimeter threat, they crushed the boards with its bigger bodies inside and made it almost impossible for Kendrick's guards to feed the ball in the post to Chinika Jones.
Lofton went to the more conservative man defense in the final period and Kendrick tied the game at 42, then took a brief two-point lead with 4:35 left.
But Hephzibah used a 10-0 run over the next 3:14 and took control.
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