Huntingdon girls use 'fear the braid' mantra to defeat Moore County in Class A quarterfinals

MURFREESBORO — Taylor Smith knew Marisa Belew was about to have a good game against Moore County Wednesday night.

It started in the hotel room the night before.

More: Huntingdon holds off Moore County to win in the Class A quarterfinals. 

Both Smith and Belew were getting their hair braided. The braids have become something of a staple for Huntingdon. Most of the players on the team have them.

A parent walked into the room and looked at Belew and said 'power.'

"I looked at Marisa before the game today and said 'power. You put that in your head,'" Smith said. "I just knew today that Marisa would have a good game and I told her before I said 'confidence.' Because she needs confidence.”

Smith’s words seemed to have worked for Belew.

She played with confidence as she posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as Huntingdon defeated the Lady Raiders 44-40 in the Class A quarterfinals.

More: Greenfield's youth players played composed when it mattered most.

The mantra surrounding the Fillies with their hair is “fear the braid.” It started out when one of the players on the team said she would braid her hair.

"One of our players plays with her hair down and she told us she would braid her hair and she never did," Smith said.

That player is Alli Jones. Jones lets her hair flow when she plays. Her flowing locks were on display on Wednesday. One look at the rest of her teammates and at least a part of their hair was braided.

“We were going to do it for her and we all basically did it for her,” Smith said.

More: Greenfield defeats Pickett County in the Class A quarterfinals.

The players on the team aren’t the only ones with their hair braided. One look into the stands at the Murphy Center on the Huntingdon side and you could see them with it as well.

While it may not seem like it does anything for them on the basketball court, the braids do serve a purpose for the Fillies.

“It kind of gets our spirits up,” Belew said.

Even coach Farris Lowery, who doesn't have much hair left, has his own braid that he walks around with. He had it made for him and it brought it to the postgame press conference room.

“It’s a gray braid,” Lowery said. I had an afro one time. There's pictures of me when I was at Milan. But I had some hair then.”

Braids and all, Huntingdon will need all the help it can get against Greenfield in the Class A quarterfinals on Friday. A spot in the championship game is on the line.

“We beat them once and they beat us once during the year, so it’s going to be a great ball game,” Lowery said. “It’s been a great fun year to coach. It’s just been a tremendous group and I know they are going to come out and play Friday with it being the state semifinals. Who wouldn’t?”

Reach Luis Torres at ltorres1@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9638 and follow him on Twitter at @LFTorresIII.