The big hurdles for the McEachern girls basketball team in its quest for its second state championship in three years lie ahead. The first-round game was no challenge at all.
The top-ranked Indians opened the game with a 13-0 run, led 29-6 after less than six minutes and cruised to a 104-46 victory over Rockdale County in the Class AAAAAA tournament Friday at McEachern. The Indians joined Early County, which beat Westside-Augusta 101-94 on Friday in a first-round Class AA game, as the first girls teams in state-tournament history to break 100 points. The previous high by one team in a game came in 1990, when Putnam County beat Grady 99-78 in a Class AA first-round game, according to the Georgia Basketball Project.
“I told the girls that we wanted to get on them early, try to get a lead and then back off into a 2-3 [defense] and half-court man, and that’s what we did,” McEachern coach Phyllis Arthur said. “The ladies have worked hard, and they deserve to be where they are. They’re on a mission. They want to continue to win, and in order to do that they’ve got to keep working hard.”
The Indians (25-2) have won 22 consecutive games since losing back-to-back games against Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Marion Catholic (Chicago Heights, Ill.) in a showcase event in November. Blackman is ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today.
McEachern, the Region 4-AAAAAA regular-season and tournament champion, will host 10th-ranked Brunswick on Monday in the second round. Brunswick was the regular-season champion in Region 1-AAAAA but took the No. 2 seed for the state tournament after losing to Lowndes in the region championship game.
Rockdale County struggled to get the ball across the half-court line and get into its offense against McEachern’s relentless full-court pressure. When Sydney Fields scored the Bulldogs’ first points on a jumper in the lane with 5:19 to play in the first quarter, Rockdale County had allowed 13 points and taken just three shots.
Te’a Cooper led the Indians with 19 points, including 10 in the first quarter as McEachern built a 33-10 lead that grew to 56-24 by halftime. Jada Lewis made three 3-pointers in the third quarter and four overall and finished with 18 points. Caliya Robinson scored 17 points, and Taylor Gordon added 10.
After Gordon made two free throws to give the Indians a 78-32 lead with 4:25 to play in the third quarter, substitutes took over and played the rest of the way. McEachern used 13 players in the game, and 12 of them scored. The Indians hit the 100-point mark when Declaria Daniels made two free throws with 2:28 to play.
“They’re very scrappy, and that’s what I like about them,” Arthur said of the reserve players. “The subs have really been playing well lately, and that’s going to help us down the line.”
Fields and Brianna Patton scored 12 points each to lead Rockdale County (13-11), the No. 4 seed from Region 2-AAAAAA.
Rockdale County (46): Tamera Sanders 4, Sydney Fields 12, Brianna Patton 12, Jonai Jackson 7, Sojo Hall 4, Destiny Stephens 2, Alexis Bryant 3, Demonica Henley 2.
McEachern (104): Te'a Cooper 19, Jada Lewis 18, Caliya Robinson 17, Aunesha Williams 6, Taylor Gordon 12, KlinTisha Martin 6, Zieandrea Bridges 8, Elizabeth Allen, Sydney Garnigan 6, Declaria Daniels 6, Tierra Lindsey 2, Ashley McCraven 2, Audrisha Williams 2.
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