Valdosta outscored Harrison 33-13 over the game’s final 12 minutes, rallying from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Hoyas 54-49 in the Class AAAAAA girls basketball quarterfinals Tuesday in Kennesaw.
The victory puts fifth-ranked Valdosta (26-3) in the semifinals for the first time since 2001. The Wildcats will face defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Lovejoy (28-3) at 6 p.m. Saturday at the University of West Georgia. Lovejoy advanced Tuesday with a 65-53 victory over No. 3 Northview.
Valdosta is the first team from south Georgia, or anywhere outside the metro Atlanta area, to reach the semifinals in the second-highest classification since Brunswick in 2016. Sixth-ranked Glynn Academy (25-4) can join the Wildcats as south Georgia representatives in the semifinals if it wins Wednesday at fourth-ranked Lanier (26-3).
The loss ended 10th-ranked Harrison’s hopes of reaching the semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Hoyas (22-9), who won the 6-AAAAAA championship this season despite entering the region tournament as the No. 3 seed, were state runners-up the past two seasons.
Harrison appeared to be in control after a 12-0 run, sparked by six points from Amara Newsom, gave the Hoyas a 36-21 lead with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Valdosta’s Nia Allen ended Harrison’s streak with a steal and layup with 3:15 to play in the quarter.
Valdosta got to within 42-35 by the end of the quarter on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Ja’Mya Johnson, then scored the first 10 points of the fourth for a 45-42 lead.
“We’re a very, very, very scrappy group,” Valdosta coach E.A. Wilcox said. “We’ve played like that all year. I hate to say, but our team was a little jittery at the beginning of the game. I think sometimes it gets bigger than what it is. Deep down I think our girls believe we can win, but sometimes we’re scared of the moment.
“With that said, our girls are extremely hard-working girls, and they’re very much classy about what it is that we do. So in that time when we’re down 15 points, I told them to stay disciplined, stay focused and keep working. Being down 15 is not easy to come back from, but we did.”
Allen carried Valdosta throughout much of the game, scoring 16 of her 18 points in the first three quarters, but the Wildcats got big contributions from guards Taylor Taylor and Mikeria Carter in the fourth. Taylor scored 10 of her 15 points in the quarter, including five straight on a three-point play and a layup to put Valdosta ahead for good at 52-47 with 1:28 remaining. Carter’s 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their first lead, 43-42 with 5:07 left, and scored a layup for the game’s final points. She finished with nine. Johnson had six points on two 3-pointers during the Wildcats’ third-quarter rally.
Newsom led Harrison with 21 points. Edith Gordon added 10, all of which came late in the second quarter and early in the third.
