GHSA, Girls Basketball, Recaps

Girls Sweet 16 Recaps

Sandy’s Spiel/Craig Sager II/Brandon Michea

Class AAAAAA

R5 #1 Woodstock 52, R1 #2 Colquitt County 41: Making their fifth-straight state appearance, the No. 9 Woodstock Lady Wolverines climbed to new heights on Friday, controlling visiting Colquitt County from start to finish for a 52-41 victory in the 2nd round of the AAAAAA tournament. The win sends the Lady Wolverines into the state Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

An 11-point opening half by Kennedy Montgomery helped Woodstock lead 32-16 at the break. A brief third-quarter surge brought the Lady Packers to within 11, before WHS pushed back out in front by 18 in the fourth. Another Colquitt charge cut the deficit to 48-40 late, but WHS sealed its historic victory from the free throw line.

Montgomery finished with a game-high 18 points, followed by nine from Ashton Sutton and seven apiece from Erin Braxton and Brittany Burnett.

R6 #1 West Forsyth 70, R2 #2 Newton 33: Three days after Jenna Staiti led West Forsyth to the program’s first-ever playoff win, the University of Maryland signee added another 35-point outburst as the Wolverines advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in history. Staiti added 20 rebounds and seven blocks to her game-high points and teammate Jane Ortlip stepped up with 15 points, including three makes from beyond the arc. Twenty-three of Staiti’s points, 16 of the rebounds and five of the blocks came in the first half as West Forsyth piled on a 40-13 edge.

R5 #2 Cherokee 70, R4 #4 Hillgrove 52: The Lady Warriors (24-5) continued their magical run coming off a 15-13 season and a 2-24 mark in 2013-14. Lacie McCoy scored a game-high 21 points to propel Cherokee to the Elite 8. Kaleigh Karl netted 15 and Havyn Wilson added 11. Laiken Wade and Olivia Herrera both scored 8 points.

R2 #1 Tucker 72, R7 #3 Mountain View 54: No. 5 Tucker received 19 points and 7 rebounds from Bria Bass. Kierra Johnson-Graham had 22 pts and 13 rebounds.

Class AAAAA

R6 #2 Mays 84, R2 #1 Grovetown 72:  No. 9 Mays’ speedy point guard Kamiyah Street put on a clinic as she netted a game-high 47 points as the Raiders handed No. 4 Grovetown (28-2) just its second loss of the year. Mays jumped to a 38-29 halftime lead but Grovetown outscored Mays 15-11 in the third quarter to cut it to 59-54 before the Raiders closed out a 25-18 advantage in the final frame.

R7 #1 Sequoyah 47, R2 # Warner Robins 40: The Lady Chiefs advanced to the Elite Eight setting up a meeting with Region 8 No. 2-seed Loganville, who survived Dutchtown 43-40. Sequoyah had a difficult task at hand in the War Lodge as the No. 5 ranked Warner Robins Demonettes brought their 22-2 record to Hickory Flat. The plan was simple early on for Warner Robins: press the Chiefs. Little did they know that Coach Derrick Dewitt’s team wouldn’t be fazed after a sluggish start.

Both teams struggled to score early on. Kezia Holmes got the Demonettes on the board at the 4:07 mark before Lauren Hartman netted the Chiefs’ first basket with 2:42 remaining in the first. Coach Tracy Fendley’s press gave Sequoyah fits as they raced out to a 10-4 lead entering the second quarter with Holmes scoring eight of her team-high 15 in the frame.

The second quarter was a different story.

“I think the girls got comfortable to their pressure,” explained Coach Dewitt. “Warner Robins is very active, they can rebound and they’re a very fast team. We settled down, showed some poise, got them moving and attacked some gaps and finished on the offensive end when we needed to.”

Trailing 14-6, sophomore point guard Alyssa Cagle found fellow sophomore Peyton Satterfield for three and in the process got the Chief faithful on their feet. Minutes later Satterfield returned the favor and delivered an assist to Cagle who proceeded to drain a long ball making it 16-14 with 2:10 to play.

Sequoyah grabbed its first lead of the game on a Kelley Hartman turnaround at the buzzer, 17-16. That basket for the 6-foot senior was a momentum changer. It was her fifth point of the first half before she scored 13 of her game-high 18 in the final 16 minutes.

After Kelley Hartman tagged on six points in the third quarter, the Lady Chiefs maintained a 27-24 lead, her final basket coming on another buzzer beater.

The Demonettes would not go away. Le’Terria Mathis scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to claw Warner Robins back into the game after two Lauren Schletty transition buckets gave Sequoyah its largest lead of the game at 36-29 with 3:43 remaining in regulation.

Things got dicey 22 seconds later as Kelley Hartman committed her fourth foul with Sequoyah leading 36-31. Hartman fouled out at the 1:07 mark with Sequoyah in front 40-37, but with her she brought her 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks to the bench.

Warner Robins would draw within 40-38, but Sequoyah managed to get the stops it needed and Cagle went 6-of-7 from the line in the fourth to close out the game 47-40.

Surviving with Hartman on the bench was no easy task, but the Lady Chiefs were able to get it done. When she was on the floor, Kelley controlled the game from the paint.

“She is such a committed teammate and player that she’ll do whatever she can. I thought her poise was good she could have gotten upset at a couple of calls but she kept it together. Even when she fouled out, she told the next kid ‘hey go in there and finish this game’. She’s coaching from the sidelines with me. Her and Lauren Hartman are outstanding Sequoyah Chiefs.”

Class AAAA

R8 #2 Buford 59, R4 #1 Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 48: After taking a 34-18 lead into the half, No. 5 Buford was outscored 19-13 in the third quarter as the lead shrunk to 47-39. The Lady Bulldogs cut the deficit to 48-40 with 5:40 left, but Buford used a 9-4 run to pull away in the final minutes. No. 4 Mt. Zion was led by Tyeisha Juhan’s 25 points, while Tory Ozment led Buford with 19 points.

Class AAA

R7 #1 West Hall 60, R3 #2 Washington County 48: West Hall led 30-23 at the half and took a nine-point lead into the final quarter, where the Lady Spartans solidified a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1999. West Hall’s Anna Mckendree led the way with 32 points and six rebounds, while teammate Macy Passmore chipped in with 23 points and six rebounds. Nia Johnson led Washington County with her team-high 23 points.

Class AA

R7 #1 Model 59, R3 #2 Dublin 27: Region 7 champion No. 3 Model jumped to a 33-12 halftime lead after outscoring Dublin 21-4 in the second quarter. The Blue Devils added a 20-5 scoring advantage in the third quarter to build a 49-21 lead. Sophomore Victaria Saxton finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks to lead undefeated Model (28-0).

R6 #2 Wesleyan 77, R2 #1 Vidalia 30: Eleven No. 2 Wesleyan players netted points, but it was Mikayla Coombs that led the way 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple double. Coombs made four three pointers and shot 80 percent from the field. Teammate Jameson Kavel finished with 16 points and Amaya Register scored 10 with seven rebounds and five assists.