The Fayette County and Chattahoochee girls basketball teams played on even terms through a fast-paced first quarter and a cold-shooting second in their Class AAAA semifinal on Wednesday night at Gwinnett Arena.
But eventually, Fayette County had too much balance and too much Elem Ibiam, and that was enough to send the Tigers to the state championship game for the third time in four seasons. Second-ranked Fayette County (27-5) turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 52-39 victory to advance to Friday’s 3 p.m. final against Forest Park. The Tigers lost to Southwest DeKalb in the 2008 and 2009 finals.
“We know right now we’re either going to get a big cup, or we’re going to get a small cup,” Fayette County coach John Strickland said. “We’ve got two small caps. We want the big cup.”
Ibiam, a South Carolina signee finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocked shots despite missing parts of the third and fourth quarters after picking up her third foul. She scored 10 points in the second half, including a putback with 2:30 to play to put Fayette County ahead 47-31, matching its biggest lead of the night.
“I said, ‘Let’s go inside to her, let’s go back to doing what we do,’ and we were able to do that,” Strickland said.
Fayette County trailed 18-17 at halftime, but took control in the third quarter. Brianna Banks, a Connecticut signee, scored seven of her 11 points in the quarter, and Ibiam and Keyondra Jenkins had four each as the Tigers outscored Chattahoochee 17-9 for a 34-27 lead.
The teams were tied 14-14 after the first quarter, but made just one field goal each for the rest of the half.
Fifth-ranked Chattahoochee (28-4) got virtually all of its offense from its talented trio of Alexis Alexander, Erika Ford and Kayla Upchurch. Alexander, a junior, was active inside all night and finished with a game-high 19 points and scored 11 of the Cougars’ 13 total points in the middle two quarters.
Ford, a Georgia signee who missed most of the season recuperating from a leg injury, scored 11 points, and Upchurch finished with seven. The only other player to score for Chattahoochee was Hollyn Phelps, who made a short jumper with 1:34 to play.
Fayette County, on the other hand, had nine players score.
“We’ve talked in the past about trying to build a bench,” Strickland said. “I’ve been here when we’ve played five or six girls, and Southwest DeKalb would always have 10, running them in and running them out. It may help down the stretch somewhat.”
