MACON – In the middle of the happy pile, Baldwin High point guard Madison Ruff shed tears of joy that welled inside her sports goggles.
It was an experience completely opposite of what she had felt a year ago on the same floor. Being a part of this exuberant heap of teammates was, in her words, amazing.
A few feet away, Bravettes coach Kizzi Walker hugged and jumped with her assistant coaches. In the stands, hundreds of fans who had made the trip from Baldwin County filled the Macon Coliseum with deafening cheers. Walker, who herself had once worn Baldwin’s red, black and white with distinction, leaned back and screamed to the arena roof, but could scarcely be heard amid the din.
This is what it looks like when history gets made, dreams are achieved, redemption is earned and a life cut short too soon is beautifully honored. Wednesday night, the girls Class 4A state championship went to No. 1 Baldwin, 47-39 winners over No. 2 Hardaway High in a game that did a fair simulation of a roller coaster – a slow start leading into a wild set of turns, bumps and thrills, all accompanied by a lot of screaming.
Or, as Walker summed it up in her post-game media address, “Whoo, whoo, whoo!!!”
Ruff, a Mount Saint Mary’s signee, led the way for Baldwin. After the Bravettes fell behind 27-11 with 5:20 to play in the third quarter, she settled her team and ignited a 16-2 run that cut the lead to 29-27 early in the fourth quarter, a seismic swing that caused the Baldwin cheering section to erupt. In the final seconds of the third quarter, Ruff made perhaps the play of the game, driving to the basket for an and-one three-point play, falling to the floor as she got the shot off. She finished with a game-high 17 points.
In the final quarter, Ruff scored nine points with three rebounds and an assist as Baldwin’s advantage in size and perhaps the tension of the moment caused Hardaway to buckle. After the slow start to the game, the final quarter was nerve-wracking, as the Hawks tried to stave off the Bravettes. But with 1:14 to play, Baldwin took its first lead since late in the first quarter when Neal scored on a layup off a deftly threaded pass from Ruff. Ahead 41-39, the Bravettes led the rest of the way.
“They showed a lot of tenacity,” Hardaway coach Kelly Ellison said. “We had them down early but they fought back. We turned the ball over a little bit and they capitalized on those turnovers.”
It was the polar opposite of what had transpired through much of the game’s first 18 minutes, when Hardaway’s defense and the poised play of point guard Adazha Burrell had Baldwin on its heels. Succumbing to Hardaway’s trapping defense and failing to exploit its size advantage at the basket, Baldwin trailed 15-9 at the half after scoring just three points in the second quarter. It was a half unlike any they had played this season. In the privacy of the locker room at halftime, Walker loudly inquired of her players if they had put in all of the effort to reach this point only to play so poorly in the most important game of the season.
“They were looking at me like, ‘She has lost her mind,’ because I wasn’t nice and settled like this,” Walker said. “I was screaming at the top of my lungs like I do at practice.”
“I was very nervous in the beginning.” Baldwin forward Kassidy Neal said. “I didn’t feel like myself. I was kind of scared somewhat. I was nervous for our team, I was nervous for our fans, I was nervous all around.”
But the Bravettes steeled themselves and avoided what would have been a crushing loss. A year ago in the Class 4A final, Baldwin led region rival Griffin by four points with a little more than a minute to play before faltering. The loss fueled Walker’s senior-dominated team, which had made the state semifinals the year prior, to finish the season as champions.
Said Walker, “They dug deep and they came through.”
As happy as she was for her seniors, it was no small moment for Walker, too. When Baldwin last won a state title, in 1988 to complete a three-peat, Walker was there in the stands, cheering on her cousin.
Said Walker, “I was like, ‘I want a state championship, too.’”
As they made through the post-game handshake line, some of them wiping away tears, Hardaway players were perhaps already plotting a redemption tour of their own. A junior-heavy team, the Hawks have emerged under Ellison as a powerhouse in Class 4A. In search of their first state title, they made the state semifinals a year ago before reaching the finals this year for the first time in school history. It’s the same pattern that Baldwin followed to its breakthrough Wednesday. It was suggested to Ellison, who was once a star at Hardaway herself, that her team would be back in this place next year.
“That’s the plan,” she replied.
It is part of the charm of high-school sports, particularly in a place like Baldwin County, located in Middle Georgia with a population of about 44,000. The seniors on the Baldwin team grew up playing basketball together, first in recreational leagues, then middle school and finally high school. Being a member of this team is important in this community.
“It’s sad, but I’m glad for the win,” Ruff said of her high-school career coming to an end. “We got (the first) championship in 36 years. This is the first time (since), so I’m glad to put my name out there as a Bravette.”
The greatest Bravette of all was Tasha Butts, who achieved All-American status at Baldwin before helping Tennessee to three Final Fours and then reaching the WNBA. She returned to the state as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech before earning the head coaching job at Georgetown last April. Tragically, she died of breast cancer last October at the age of 41.
Her passing provided an extra measure of motivation to players, many of whom grew up learning about Butts’ legend. The team’s t-shirts this season included Butts’ No. 23 inset into a red and white “B” above the slogan “Unfinished Business.” Walker said that Wednesday’s win was dedicated to Butts, who as a senior in 2000 fell short in her bid for a state title in the very same arena.
In the crowd Wednesday was Vanessa Waller, Butts’ aunt and grandmother of current team member Lele West. Watching the game unfold, she said she wasn’t nervous, and then tried to find the right word to describe her state.
“I was panicked,” she said. “I was past nervous.”
But, after all, Baldwin won, redeeming itself and earning a spot in school history, if not a little bit more.
Said Waller, “This one will be remembered for a long time.”
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