There was a time when Southwest DeKalb junior guard Daisa Alexander was practicing three times a day. It’s paying off in the state tournament.
Alexander scored 25 points, leading the Panthers into the Class AAAAA state championship game with a hard-fought 55-47 win over gritty Sequoyah on Saturday at Columbus State.
Southwest DeKalb will face upstart Winder-Barrow at 7 p.m. Friday, in Macon. The Panthers will be looking for their fifth state title under coach Kathleen Richey-Walton since 2008 and first since 2013.
An intense, tight semifinal battle between a pair of region champions was tied with three minutes to play. But Alexander capped a 9-1 Southwest DeKalb run with a three-point and sealed the win with a steal and layup in the final seconds.
Senior forward Jada Walton added 12 points for the Panthers, who fell behind early for the second straight day, before using their trademark pressure defense to mount a rally.
Talented senior post Kelley Hartman led the Chiefs with 12 points, and playmaking sophomore point guard Alyssa Cagle added nine points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Sequoyah led 18-12 at halftime, but Southwest DeKalb took control early in the third quarter. The Panthers scored the first 12 points of the second half and held the Chiefs without a basket for nearly four minutes.
But Sequoyah wouldn’t go quietly. Hartman scored on a putback and Cagle hit a layup that put the Chiefs ahead 34-33 heading into the fourth quarter. But Alexander took over in the fourth quarter, helping the Panthers pull away.
“She put a tremendous amount of work,” Richey-Walton said of Alexander. “At one time, she was practicing three times a day. She put in a ton of work.”
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