Basketball: Smith, Lady Tigers face tough task

Dara Smith
Dara Smith

WEST FORK -- Dara Smith knows the West Fork girls have work to do.

The Lady Tigers face Danville at 4 p.m. today in the 3A Region 1 Tournament with the Lady Little Johns playing on their home floor.

Dara Smith

SCHOOL West Fork

POSITION Guard

HEIGHT 5-7

CLASS Junior.

NOTABLE Leads the Tigers in scoring at 14 points per game and four rebounds per game … Part-time starter last year as a sophomore.

Class 3A Region 1 Tournament

at Danville

Girls

Wednesday

Game 1: 1st-1W Greenland vs. 4th-4 Atkins, 4 p.m.

Game 2: 1st-4 Lamar vs. 4th-1W Elkins, 7 p.m.

Thursday

Game 3: 2nd-4 Danville vs. 3rd-1W West Fork, 4 p.m.

Game 4: 2nd-1W Cedarville vs. 3rd-4 Paris, 7 p.m.

Friday

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 4 p.m.

Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Game 7: Third-place game, noon

Game 8: Championship game, 6 p.m.

Boys

Wednesday

Game 1: 1st-1 West Fork vs. 4th-4 Two Rivers, 5:30 p.m.

Game 2: 1st-4 Paris vs. 4th-1 Cedarville, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday

Game 3: 2nd-4 Lamar vs. 3rd-1 Lavaca, 5:30 p.m.

Game 4: 2nd-1 Haas Hall Academy vs. 3rd-4 Charleston, 8:30 p.m.

Friday

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 5:30 p.m.

Game 6 Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday

Game 7: Third-place game, 1:30 p.m.

Game 8: Championship game, 7:30 p.m.

"They will have the crowd behind them," Smith said. "We will have to stay calm and focused and play our game."

Smith, along with senior Olivia Karnes, was on the floor last year as West Fork pulled an upset in the first round and advanced to the 3A State Tournament as regional runner-up. That team wound up with a 17-13 overall record.

"That was a senior-dominated-team," West Fork coach Rodney Selph said. "They came on and played well at the end of the year."

This year, West Fork has a better record going to regionals at 19-10 despite losing four senior starters from last year. The No. 3 seed Tigers have to win the first game at regionals to make a return trip to state.

A tough task, but the team can draw inspiration from last year's example.

"It's that time of year where anything can happen," Selph said. "It's all about who plays well. I think we have as good a chance as anybody, but we have to execute."

Along with Karnes, Smith is a junior, and West Fork starts three sophomores.

While Smith is undersized at 5-foot-7, Selph says she plays more like a traditional 3 spot and likes to mix it up inside with bigger players.

"She's a good shooter, but her best attribute is the way she attacks the basket," Selph said. "She likes to play physical basketball, and she knows how to finish. She knows how to score, and she usually gets one of our tougher defensive assignments, too."

Smith has gone over 20 points in several games and draws a lot of fouls with her aggressive style of play.

"I think it's boring to sit out there on the 3-point line and look for a shot," Smith said. "I want to go down in the paint and mix it up. I'd rather score on someone inside and draw the foul for an and-one any day and get a three-point play that way."

Selph had coached boys basketball before and spent five years as the West Fork head football coach before taking over the girls basketball program last year.

Selph said he decided when he made the switch that he would bring the same attitude to girls basketball that he did for football.

"Coaching is coaching," Selph said. "I treat them all the same. I think the girls appreciate it and expect me to be tough with them when I need to be."

"Coach (Selph) is a nice guy, but he can be pretty rough on us too," Smith said. "If you aren't doing what you are supposed to be doing, he's going to let you know about it. I'd rather be yelled at when I need to because I know it makes me play better."

While Selph's daughter graduated last year, he said he has enjoyed the transition to coaching girls.

"I like where I am now, and I don't see any changes soon," Selph said. "The girls have worked hard, and I have enjoyed coaching them. Another thing I like is I'm indoors a lot more."

Sports on 02/26/2015

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