Sallisaw senior believes playoffs can be new start for Lady Diamonds
The Sallisaw Lady Diamonds finished the 2023-24 regular basketball season at 8-14 after Monday’s Senior Night win over Westville.
Now, the postseason has arrived as the Sallisaw teams will travel Saturday night up U.S. 59 to Stilwell for the Class 4A District Tournament, with the Lady Diamonds and Lady Indians battling at 6 p.m., followed by the Black Diamonds and Indians squaring off at 7:30 p.m.
Sallisaw Lady Diamonds lone senior, Abby Kate Qualls, believes the postseason can provide a new and fresh start for the team.
“It’s a clean slate,” Qualls said. “It does rejuvenate us. We’re excited to get to play Stilwell again. We’re putting in a lot of new stuff in. I’m really confident that we can go out and beat them.”
That’s why Monday’s Senior Night win means so much to the team.
“It gives us a lot of confidence to really go above and beyond everyone’s expectations,” Qualls said. “Even though our record doesn’t say a lot about us, I think we work quite hard. I think all the work we’ve put in is finally going to pay off in the playoffs.”
Qualls said Monday night meant a lot to her personally.
“It was amazing,” she said about the win. “It was everything I could have wished for. Our team worked really well together. It was really good we had that (win) going into (the) playoffs.”
While the regular season did not go as everyone had hoped, Qualls said it still acted as a teaching tool to help the team get ready for its playoff run.
“It taught us a lot about hard work, and what we really need to do to win games,” said Qualls, who was this season’s homecoming queen. “We can go out and play really evenly with people we play against, but we haven’t found ways to win. I think what our season has taught us is we can really find ways to win. We can go out and do that in the playoffs. I really think we can go out and beat any team that we put our minds to … that’s what I think.”
Despite a regular season that might have had more downs than ups, if one looks at the Class 4A Area II playoff bracket, it shows the Lady Diamonds, as well as the Black Diamonds, are just four wins from being at the Class 4A State Tournament, which will be March 9-11 in Oklahoma City. Qualls said she and her teammates are quite pumped knowing the team is that close to being a state qualifier.
“We can do four more (wins) and get to state,” she said. “We’re right there. It’s super exciting. I think it’s my dream to go to state my senior year. I think it’s a goal of our team.”
Thus, making the state tournament in her final season as a Lady Diamond would mean a lot to Qualls.
“It would be anything and everything I have ever dreamed of,” Qualls said. “That would be the most exciting thing, and the best thing, that can ever happen your senior year. So, that would make me really excited. If our team could get to state, I think we could win state. I think that is how excited we would all be.”
Since there is no college basketball in the Sallisaw senior’s future, she said she is just going to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
“It’s a little bit emotional, but I’m ready to go out and give my very best in the playoffs,” Qualls said. “It’s my last time. I really want to make the most of it.
