Khayla Pointer scored 33 points and gave her team the lead for good on a layup with 45 seconds remaining in overtime as top-ranked Holy Innocents’ survived a late Wesleyan rally and won the Class AA girls basketball championship with a 66-64 victory Friday at the Macon Coliseum in a rematch of last year’s final.
In fact, it was the eighth meeting in two seasons for the Region 6-AA powers and the sixth victory for the Golden Bears in that stretch. Holy Innocents’ won three times during the regular season and region tournament last year but lost to Wesleyan in the state final. The Golden Bears won three times again this season, but this time they got the one that counted most.
The title was the second in school history for Holy Innocents’ (27-5) and the first since 1999.
Holy Innocents’ had led since late in the first quarter and eventually built the lead to 11 points when a free throw by Erika Cassell made it 42-31 midway through the third. Cassell finished witih 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Wesleyan cut the lead to 50-43 by the end of the quarter but did not pull even until Sutton West’s 3-pointer with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter made it 59-59. It was the only field goal of the game for West, who finished with five points.
Holy Innocents’ held the ball for a final shot and had a chance to win it, but Shai Blanding missed three free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining after being fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt in the final second.
“When you play a team like Wesleyan, the game’s never over,” Holy Innocents’ coach Tony Watkins said. “It’s one of the best programs in the country. When they got a little lead on us right there [in overtime], the girls didn’t quit. They just banded together, they believed, and it worked out.”
No. 3-ranked Wesleyan (27-5) scored the first four points of overtime on two free throws each by Amaya Register and West, but the Golden Bears outscored Wesleyan 7-1 in the final 1:59 to win it. Wesleyan had a chance to tie the game on its final possession but lost the ball in traffic in the lane.
Register led a balanced Wesleyan attack with 16 points, Cairo Booker added 13, and Natalie Armstrong and Mikayla Coombs finished with 12 each.
Wesleyan (64): Coombs 12, Booker 13, Register 16, Kavel 6, Armstrong 12, West 5, Edwards.
Holy Innocents' (66): Suttle 5, Cassell 11, Hubbard 4, Pointer 33, Blanding 9, Long, Milord 4.
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