Hillgrove went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 46 seconds and held on for a 65-60 victory over Campbell in the second round of the Class AAAAAAA girls basketball tournament Wednesday after almost letting a 20-point second-half lead disappear.
Taylor Thompson’s basket to open the third quarter gave Hillgrove a 39-19 lead, but Campbell rallied and got within 59-58 with one minute remaining. Hillgrove’s Logan VanArsdale made four consecutive free throws for a 63-58 lead, and Aisya Davis made two with 1.6 seconds left to put the game away.
“I was concerned when it was a 20-point lead because I knew they were coming back,” Hillgrove coach Susan Milam said. “That game wasn’t over. That was the first thing I told the girls when we came in at halftime. I told them that we’ve got 16 minutes to go, and that was the kind of Campbell team that we expect to see. They just don’t quit, and they’ll fight to the bitter end.”
The victory puts 10th-ranked Hillgrove (19-7) in the quarterfinals for the third time in school history and first since the 2012 team was the state runner-up. The Hawks will face fifth-ranked North Forsyth, which advanced with a 56-40 victory over Grayson. North Forsyth beat Hillgrove 55-53 in overtime on Nov. 21 in Cumming at the North Forsyth Thanksgiving Tournament.
Campbell forced 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter but was never able to pull even. The Spartans, who lost to Hillgrove 67-48 on Dec. 5, outscored the Hawks 21-15 in the fourth quarter and 41-18 in the second half.
“We did not handle their pressure well.” Milam said. “They started mixing up their presses, and we panicked a little bit and turned the ball over too much. Coming down the stretch, we had the lead and didn’t manage our possessions well and took quick shots. But, to their credit, that’s their aggressive defense. That forces players to think on their feet, and that created the panic in us.”
Hillgrove had a balanced scoring attack, with seven players scoring at least five points. VanArsdale led the way with 14, followed by Davis with 12 and Breah McGrady with 10.
Campbell (18-11), the No. 4 seed from Region 2-AAAAAAA, was one of only two unranked teams in the state to beat a ranked opponent in the first round when it eliminated No. 9 Lowndes 51-49 in Valdosta last week. The Spartans couldn’t duplicate that magic against Hillgrove, although they came close.
The Spartans were hurt by a slow start. Campbell took its only lead of the game when Jadyn Rice opened the scoring with two free throws. However, the Spartans did not make a field goal until Rice scored from just inside the 3-point line with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter, at which point Hillgrove led 10-4.
The Hawks increased the lead to 19-11 by the end of the first quarter and took control of the game in the second, outscoring the Spartans 18-8 for a 37-19 halftime lead. The Hawks got a big boost from their bench, as non-starters McGrady (seven points in the quarter), Kennedi White (five points) and Logan VanArsdale (two points) combined for 14 of the Hawks’ 18 second-quarter points to help Hillgrove stretch the lead to 37-19.
“They were tremendous,” Milam said of the second unit. “That’s something we’ve told the girls all season, that this is a team and everybody’s got something to contribute. When we play as a team, we can be good. When we try to play individually, it doesn’t turn out well. We do much better when people step up and do their job when it’s their turn to step on the court.”
Rice led all scorers with 19 points and Jada Alston had 18, including eight in the fourth quarter. Jaleah Alston added 10.
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