Greenforest senior Arielle Holloway made four critical free throws in the final minute to help the Eagles remain defeated and earn a spot in the state semifinals.
Holloway scored eight points, but was 4-for-4 from the line in the final 42 seconds to help the Eagles hang on for a 35-28 win over Tattnall Square in the quarterfinals of the Class A Private girls tournament at Kennesaw State.
“She came through in the end,” Greenforest coach Allison Prather said. “I can’t express how I feel. God has led us the whole year and I thank God for where we’re at today.”
Greenforest will play the winner of the game between Eagle’s Landing Christian and Calvary Day on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Kennesaw State for a spot in the championship game.
No. 3 seed Greenforest (26-0) also got 10 points from Taylor Riggins and eight points from Uloma Enyogasi.
No. 6 seed Tattnall Square (25-3) was led by 6-foot-5 center Abby Rouse with 10 points and Jordan Allen with seven.
“My big girl (6-3 sophomore Tobulayefa Owelyegha) did a good job on her,” Prather said. “We wanted to deny the ball, stay close to her and make her uncomfortable, don’t let her breathe.”
Tattnall cut the lead to a point when Allie Gordon scored on an offensive rebound to make the scored 29-28. The Trojans had what appeared to be an uncontested layup after a steal, but the pass was thrown away. Tattnall had a couple other looks, but could not capitalize and Greenforest’s Taylor Riggins scored on a stickback to give her team a three-point lead.
“We were down seven and battled back and I’m proud of the effort to cut it to one and get the ball back and have an opportunity to take the lead.,” Tattnall coach Todd Whetsel said. “That’s all you can ask for. We didn’t make the play but we gave ourselves a chance.”
Tattnall came out hot at the beginning of the game and quickly grabbed an 8-2 lead. Greenforest cut the margin to 8-4 at the end of the quarter.
Greenforest took advantage when Tattnall was resting Rouse and scored seven straight points to take a 13-10 lead. Even when Rouse returned the Eagles continued to pound it inside and got two driving baskets from Uloma Enyogasi and led 17-12.
“The difference was in the second quarter … their offensive rebounding,” Whetsel said. “They didn’t have any in the first quarter and they had seven in the second quarter and that’s when they took the lead. To me that was the difference, second quarter
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