The Mill Creek girls basketball team built a lead with 3-pointers and then closed out a victory with 1-pointers Friday night in the first round of the Class AAAAA tournament.
The Hawks pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Marietta 61-46 and advance to the second round for the sixth consecutive season. Mill Creek (16-13, the No. 3 seed from Region 7-AAAAA) will host Northview, an upset winner over eighth-ranked Brookwood.
The Hawks made only six 2-point field goals, but they didn’t need them. They were 12-for-18 from the 3-point line and made 12 of 18 free throws in the final 5:27 of the game. Mill Creek scored eight of its nine first-half baskets on 3-pointers, including four by Nadiya Miller, who led all scorers with 19 points.
“They played zone in the first half and did a great job of covering up the lane, so that’s what was there for us,” said Mill Creek coach Ashley Phillips, whose team also beat Marietta 50-49 on Nov. 30. “Our kids just do a great job of trying to get good shots, and the 3-pointer was the shot that was there, and fortunately we hit some.”
Said Marietta coach Ken Sprague, “We were allowing them to stretch us out. We were getting out of position, and then we would have to cover each other up, and that would just leave somebody open. And they hit. Shoot, they hit eight of them [in the first half]. You don’t see that too often. I think the last time we played them, they only hit three, but they hit 12 tonight.”
Marietta (13-15, the No. 2 seed from 5-AAAAA) trailed 26-19 at halftime, but fought back to take a 40-39 lead on two free throws by Jasmine McSwain with 5:52 to play in the game. Mill Creek responded with a 16-0 run that included a steal and layup by Alicia Brookins, a 3-pointer by Tamarr Williams, a layup by Alesia Fagin and a 9-for-12 effort from the free-throw line.
Both teams were missing a starter. Mill Creek played without Jasmine Carter, who was home with a staph infection. Carter, a freshman, leads the Hawks with almost 15 points per game.
Marietta was missing senior guard Ciera Echols, who broke her nose during the region tournament. Echols was replaced in the starting lineup by junior Trana Hopkins, who was returning from a knee injury and playing her first game of the season.
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