Girls state basketball roundup
Class AAAA
Southwest DeKalb 53, Loganville 50: Alonda Rivers scored 16 points to lead two-time defending champion Southwest DeKalb to a narrow win over Loganville at West Georgia in Carrollton. Florida signee Kayla Lewis added 15 points. Brittnee Hazel scored 16 for Loganville.
Forest Park 50, Statesboro 44: Ashlee Cole scored 19 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, when Forest Park overcame a 10-point deficit at Fort Valley State University . Cole and Jessica Anderson each hit 3-pointers early in the fourth to get Forest Park back in it. Anderson finished with 12 points, 10 in the fourth. Statesboro (26-4) was led by Alyssia Jenkins, who scored 19. Forest Park (25-5) has made the semifinals for the first time since its 1970 Class AAA championship.
Dutchtown 60, Glenn Hills 44: Also at Fort Valley, Alyssa Strickland scored 19 points and made a couple of 3-point shots in the pivotal third quarter for Dutchtown (27-2), a six-year-old Clayton County school that qualified for the state semifinals for the first time. Twin sister Brittney Strickland, who averages 26.1 points, was held to 12. The sisters have signed with Alabama A&M. Abria Atwater scored 14 for Dutchtown. The leading scorer for Glenn Hills, an Augusta school, was Jessica Morton with 19 points. Dutchtown led 29-24 at halftime, took a 10-point lead in the third and was never threatened.
Northwest Whitfield 61, Madison County 42: Northwest Whitfield earned its first trip to the state semifinals in nearly 20 years with a win over Madison County at West Georgia. Northwest trailed at halftime, but finished the game on a 41-21 run. Northwest had four players who scored in double figures, including Christy Robinson with 16 points and Baleigh Corley with 12. Madison County’s Juvonna Fleming scored 17.
Class AA
Buford 48, Rabun County 28: Like last year, when the eventual champion Wolves routed the Wildcats by 32 points in the quarterfinals, they did so again at the Northwest Georgia Trade Center. Lacey Pass led Buford (27-4) with 14 points, including four of the Wolves’ five 3-pointers. Alysha Rudnik and Andraya Carter chipped in eight points apiece. Brianna Beck and Logan Turner scored eight and six, respectively, for the Wildcats (27-2), who were outscored 14-1 in the third quarter. “Defense is something you can hang your hat on every night, and we’re very proud of that,” Buford coach Gene Durden said.
Class A
Taylor County 60, Emanuel County Institute 49: Shaniqua Holston led all scorers with 32 points as the Vikings beat previously unbeaten ECI (23-1) at Columbus State. Brittany Troutman added 11 points. Valese McAllister had 13 points for ECI.
Savannah Christian 50, Calvary Day 41: Also at Columbus State, Randi Friess sank four consecutive free throws in the game’s final 30 seconds to help preserve the win for the Raiders. Friess finished with 14 points, as did Adrienne DeFillippis, to lead Savannah Christian. Kelsey Ellis scored 15 points to lead the Cavaliers, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the third quarter before battling back.
Michael Carvell in Carrollton, Todd Holcomb in Fort Valley, Seth Coleman in Columbus and Michael Alpert in Dalton contributed to this article.
