Redan coach Jerry Jackson had a tough time talking about his team's 54-50 loss to the Loganville girls in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs on Friday.
"We came out a little flat," Jackson said with a look of disbelief on his face. "We fought to get back in it. We had to execute down the stretch, and we didn't."
It was a stunning loss to Redan (23-4), which was heavily favored in the game after winning the Region 6-AAAA tournament. The loss ends a three-year streak of Redan appearing in state championship games.
"We didn't feel like it was going to be an upset coming in," Loganville first-year coach John Zorn said. "We're a No. 4 seed, but we felt like we were just as good as any No. 1 seed around. We felt like if we could shoot, we could play with anybody."
Loganville (21-7) was led by Enisha Donley, who scored a game-high 25 points. Donley, one of metro Atlanta's top unsigned seniors, scored Loganville's lone field goal in fourth quarter, while the team combined to make 10 of 16 free throws to account for the 12 total points.
Redan was led by Aneesah Daniels and Kierra Paige, who tied for a team-high 13 points. Both fouled out in the final quarter.
After the game, Redan's players exchanged handshakes with Loganville and walked quietly off the court. Not much was said in Redan's locker room.
"They are hurt and disappointed," Jackson said. "We had a few things we wanted to do in this game, and we didn't execute them. We felt like we let one get away. That's how it is sometimes, I guess."
Redan started poorly on offense, trailing 15-7 after the first quarter. Loganville led by as many 17 points in the second half before Redan rallied.
Daniels, who has signed with Alabama, banked in a layup to cut Loganville's advantage to 51-48 with 2:18 remaining in the game. After a Loganville turnover, Redan had a chance to get closer, but was penalized for a traveling violation.
"Our kids made their free throws down the stretch," Zorn said. "We did a great job against them defensively. We knew we had to defend and box out, and we did."
Redan had high expectations after winning one of the state's toughest region tournaments. Southwest DeKalb, the three-time defending Class AAAA champions, and No. 1-ranked Chamblee were upset in early rounds and failed to make the playoffs. Redan moved down from Class AAAAA this season.
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