No. 4 Wheeler County took a 34-30 lead into the final quarter of its Elite 8 showdown at Valdosta State and held off a back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter with clutch foul shots and vexing defense as No. 5 Treutlen fought to keep its season alive. Treutlen opened the fourth quarter with a Denesha Beacham 3-pointer that cut it to one point (34-31), but Wheeler County’s Lakaitlin Wright withstood the Vikings early outburst. Wright scored the first 11 Bulldog points of the fourth quarter as Wheeler County clung to a 45-40 lead. Treutlen's Le’Andrea Gillis cut the deficit to 45-42 with a lay-up but Brianna Hinton drew a foul and split the free throws to hold a 46-42 edge. A Beachum floater and a Jasmine Brown free throw made it a 46-45 game. Wright got Wheeler County going in the fourth quarter, but Tyesha Parker was the closer. Parker scored off her own steal to put the Bulldogs up 48-45 but Gillis answered with a pair of free throws after drawing the foul on Parker to cut it back to 48-47 with 2:19 left. Parker drove right back at Gillis and hit a lay-up with the hard foul as she slid into the stands. Parker rimmed a successful free throw and then the defense tightened up as Treutlen turned it over on its next three possessions. Gillis hit a late 3-pointer that kept Treutlen alive (52-50) but Parker netted a free-throw and the Vikings final attempt missed the mark.
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