In a matchup featuring the state's top two teams, No. 1 Holy Innocents' won 71-60 over No. 2 Pelham in the Class AA quarterfinals on Friday at Georgia College in Milledgeville.
The Lady Golden Bears (24-4), a No. 1 seed from Region 6, advance to the semifinals for
Credit: Craig Sager
Credit: Craig Sager
the fourth year in a row and are now a win away from from a potential rematch of last year's state title game against region foe Wesleyan, should the Lady Wolves also win their semifinals matchup.
Holy Innocents' will play the winner of Friday's Putnam County-Model game. Their semfinals game will be played on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., while Wesleyan plays GAC at 3 p.m. Both games are at Georgia College and three of the final four teams are from Region 6.
The Lady Hornets, a No. 1 seed from Region 1, end their season with a 24-2 record.
The Lady Golden Bears opened the game on a 6-0 run and held a lead for all but 14 seconds. They were able to withstand Pelham's 3-point shooting and brief scoring outbursts with 3-point shooting of their own, ball movement and a steady attack that featured four double-digit scorers.
The Lady Hornets kept the game close in in the first quarter behind the three-point shooting of Mahogany Brown, who hit hit three from long distance. But Holy Innocents' sophomore Kaila Hubbard also hit three 3s in the first.
"We've been practicing our jump shots a lot in practice because we knew they were going to give us a lot of open shots," Hubbard said. "My teammates got me the ball and I was able to hit them."
The Lady Golden Bears took a 38-32 lead into halftime but that quickly vanished when Pelham opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run that took just 59 seconds. But Kennedy Suttle's basket gave Holy Innocents' the lead back on the next possession and the Lady Golden Bears never trailed again.
Lady Golden Bears coach Tony Watkins credited the team's experience - they have seven upperclassmen - to stopping Pelham's run.
"We've got a veteran team," Watkins said. "When we got down by one point in the third quarter we called a timeout. They didn't panic. We were OK, and we did a nice job of playing together and getting shots there toward the end and it worked out."
The game started to fall apart early in the fourth quarter for Pelham. Trailing 54-49, Brown fouled out with 6:31 remaining. With 5:04 remaining, another of the Lady Hornets' top scorers, Destiny Thomas, also fouled out.
Holy Innocents' was able to somewhat distance themselves to seal the victory with free throws, but shot a paltry 14-for-26 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
"We should have probably won by 20," Watkins said of the team's free throw struggles.
Holy Innocents' was led by Khayla Pointer (17 points), Kennedy Suttle (16), Hubbard and Shai Blanding (12 apiece).
Pelham's Quadranique Franklin led all scorers with 19 points and fouled out in the game's waning seconds. Brown scored 16 points and Thomas scored 11.
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