Alan Dell commentary | Lakewood Ranch's Elise Spiller shows she is a dragon slayer
LAKELAND
Elise Spiller didn't know until just before tipoff she was going to be guarding Jessie Day.
If you're looking for a comparison try telling a rookie he is going to be spending his first NBA game guarding Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant or LeBron James.
Jessie Day was to Niceville what all those guys were or are to their respective teams. The senior came into the Class 7A state semifinal averaging 19.3 points and 12.4 rebounds.
Day is 6-1. Spiller is 5-8.
No problem, coach.
"I felt Elise would do a great job on her because she (Day) wasn't a regular post player. She played outside and inside," Lakewood Ranch head coach Tina Hadley said. "We knew Elise could guard her on the perimeter, and we would give her help in the post. I thought Elise excelled at doing her job."
Hadley didn't want to put star LaDazhia Williams on Day because she didn't want her big girl out on the perimeter and was afraid of getting her in foul trouble.
It's not that Spiller is expendable. It's just that she usually does what is asked of her and goes all out.
Mission accomplished: Day was held to nine points, hitting just 4 of 17 shots and grabbing only six rebounds. After the first quarter, she scored four points and shot 2 for 10.
Day paid Spiller the ultimate compliment.
"They had a stronger defender on me tonight. She went everywhere I went. I was short on a lot of my shots because I was working so hard to get open, and that tired me out," Day said. "The level of competition was a lot different tonight than in the other games."
Stopping Day was like cutting off the head of a snake. The rest of team shot 6-29 (24 percent), and the Eagles were an overall 10-46 (22 percent). The Mustangs were 20-49 from the floor (40 percent).
"It was tough. I never guarded the post for an entire game," Spiller said. "I got tired a couple of times, but after she got a couple of shots off in the first half, I realized she likes to pump fake, and I kind of settled down and played contain defense. Once I started getting use to her, it came natural to me."
"It took them out of their game. She is the key to their offense," Hadley said.
When Spiller wasn't busy locking down Day, she managed to score 11 points and hit the Mustangs' only three-pointer of the game.
Spiller shutting down Day was one of several goals Hadley set for her team.
The coach has a passion for rebounding and made it a point to write it on the board in her pregame ritual.
Again that meant shutting down Day.
"I watched her on film and she is going after every offensive rebound so our goal was to keep her off the glass," Hadley said.
The Ranch players take it personally when they get out-rebounded.
They dominated the glass 45-30 and collected 15 offensive rebounds to 7 for Niceville.
Again, another one of Lakewood Ranch's unsung heroes emerged.
This time it was Kyra Klarkowski, who grabbed a game-high 14 boards, which is nearly three times above her average.
"Really, I didn't know I had that much," Klarkowski responded when told about work on the glass. "I don't know how it happened. I was just under there a lot more today. Coach wrote that on the board before the game and that was one of the things I needed to step up on. It's about getting in position and reading the ball."
"Kyra is 100 percent effort on the floor," Hadley said. "Sometimes, she is so hyped up you have to tell her to calm down. Her rebounding is simply about effort. She wants the ball more than anyone else."
They got a second straight solid game from sophomore India Searls, who had a game-high six offensive rebounds and scored eight points, knocking down 4 of 8 shots.
Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Alan Dell commentary | Lakewood Ranch's Elise Spiller shows she is a dragon slayer ."