No matter what has happened over the course of the season, the state championship stage seems to always belong to Wesleyan.
The third-ranked Wolves (27-4) avenged three earlier losses to top-ranked Holy Innocents’ with a 61-44 victory Friday in the Class A private-school girls final at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion to earn their 13th state title in 16 years. It was the fourth consecutive meeting between the teams in the championship game, with Wesleyan winning three of the four.
Seniors Sutton West and Amaya Register combined for 14 of the Wolves’ 18 points in the decisive third quarter to help Wesleyan turn a five-point halftime advantage into a 45-32 lead entering the fourth quarter. Holy Innocents’ (29-2) never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
West and Register are the only girls on Wesleyan’s 13-player roster that are not freshmen or sophomores. West finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Register had 12 points and three assists.
“I think for our kids it means something to have Wesleyan on the front of their jerseys,” Wesleyan coach Jan Azar said of the team’s postseason success. “A lot of them have sat in the stands and watched these games, and now they get to be on the court. So putting on that jersey means something to them, and they come ready to play. Sutton and Amaya are seniors, they’ve been with me since middle school, and when they come on this court for the last time they’re getting phone calls from former players saying to appreciate this moment. So they’re coming out to play like it means something to them, and they did.”
Holy Innocents’ led 14-11 at the end of the first quarter behind five points from Jada Farrell and had what would be its biggest lead of the day, at 15-11, on a free throw by Jillian Hollingshead with 6:42 to play in the second.
That’s when the Wolves took over. Register gave Wesleyan the lead for good when she scored on a putback to make it 18-17 with 4:14 to play in the second quarter. West made a jumper at the halftime buzzer for a 27-22 lead, then scored her team’s first seven points of the third quarter as the lead grew to 34-26. Register followed with a 3-pointer to make it a 37-26 game and put the Wolves firmly in control.
“We did a really good job defensively, and we changed some things up in the second half,” Azar said. “Even though our defense was working, we wanted to show something different. We changed up our offense and put Sutton on the free-throw line, and she attacked the basket really well. Our bench went in and did a good job, and I was really proud of the girls for following through with the game plan.”
Sophomore Avyonce Carter did her part to get Wesleyan going early, scoring six of the team’s 11 first-quarter points and battling inside against the bigger, more-experienced Holy Innocents’ lineup. Although Holy Innocents’ finished with a 46-35 advantage in rebounds, Carter had 11 rebounds and scored 14 points. Freshman guard Paige Lyons had 10 points and six rebounds.
Holy Innocents’ never found its shooting touch, missing eight of its first 10 attempts from the field and finishing at 27.1 percent (16-for-59). The Golden Bears were 2-for-15 on 3-pointers. Kaila Hubbard led Holy Innocents’ with 18 points, and Jada had 13 points and nine rebounds. Hollingshead had a game-high 16 rebounds.
“At the beginning of the season, there were times when we were looking at them and thinking, ‘Are y’all gonna get this?’, especially after that second Holy Innocents’ game when they beat us by 20,” Azar said. “So we had to fix some things, correct some things, and really just get better. We got better, and it showed today.”
Holy Innocents (44): Kennedy Suttle 4, Rachel Suttle 4, Kaila Hubbard 18, Jillian Hollingshead 5, Jada Farrell 13, Jade Dedd-Manqin, Katie Brown, Shay Sweat, Logan Jackson, Charlsie Birkel, Jasiah Washington.
Wesleyan (61): Paige Lyons 10, Amaya Register 12, Sutton West 17, Callie Weaver 1, Avyonce Carter 14, Gracie Taylor, Nicole Azar, Lauren Hill, Alyssa Phillip, Izzy Larsen 7, Riley Keller.
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