The Grayson girls basketball team, the only Georgia team to finish unbeaten in the 2023-24 season, suffered its first loss of the year when it was defeated by IMG Academy of Florida 65-56 in the semifinals of the Chipotle Nationals on Friday in Brownsburg, Ind.
IMG Academy (24-3) avenged a 73-56 loss to Grayson on Jan. 13 in the regular season. The Ascenders will play in the championship game against Montverde Academy of Florida at 10 a.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by ESPN.
Grayson went 32-0 during the season on its way to the first state championship in program history. The Rams were the only public school in the six-team Chipotle event.
Danielle Carnegie, the AJC’s all-classification player of the year, and fellow Class 7A first-team all-state selection Erin Rodgers combined for 44 of Grayson’s 56 points. Carnegie, a Georgia Tech signee, had 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals and was 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Rodgers, a Florida Atlantic signee, had 19 points and eight rebounds and made 11 of 14 free-throw attempts.
Grayson’s other points came from Malaya Jones (10) and Tatum Brown (two).
IMG Academy featured a starting lineup that included three major Division I signees and two of the nation’s top 25 juniors. Kelis Fisher, a UConn commit ranked as the No. 23 junior by ESPN, had 20 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Tajianna Roberts (signed with Louisville) scored 15 points, and Leah Harmon (signed with Miami) had 12. Heloisa Carrera, an Ole Miss signee, had six points and 16 rebounds, and Deniya Prawl (No. 11 junior) had eight points and six rebounds.
Grayson took its only lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Carnegie with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter that made it a 3-2 game. However, the Rams turned the ball over on four of their first five possessions and fell into an 8-3 hole from which they never recovered.
The Rams were still within four points at halftime, but IMG outscored Grayson 16-6 over the first six minutes of the third quarter to build a 50-36 lead. Grayson cut the lead to nine points by the end of the quarter but never got closer than seven in the fourth.
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