Sports

Powder Springs Reigns in Girls AAAAA

McEachern will play Hillgrove tonight for the state title.

The eyes of Powder Springs will be on the tonight when crosstown rivals and play for the Georgia High School Association's AAAAA girls championship.

Te fourth meeting of the season between the Lady Indians and Lady Hawks was set up Thursday when McEachern beat two-time defending state champion , 64-61, and Hillgrove defeated , 56-51.

Check out photos of McEachern's victory and Hillgrove's triumph.

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While the results were the same—West Cobb topping Gwinnett County—the games were very different Thursday.

What's your prediction for the championship? Tell us in the comment space below.

McEachern (32-0) took control from the start, scoring the first nine points, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, and the Lady Indians held a 13-point lead at 54-41 early in the fourth quarter.

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Then the Lady Blue Devils, who last year, charged.

As seen on the live webcast of the game on ghsa.tv, Norcross turned up the defensive pressure, forcing McEachern into turnovers and bad shots.

Despite struggling from the free-throw line in the final six minutes, including missing three of four foul shots after cutting the lead to three points with 2:56 to play, The Gwinnett Daily Post said, Norcross cut the lead to two with less than two minutes remaining.

Patches Roberts restored some breathing room with a layup and foul shot, and McEachern made four of its last five free throws. Still, Norcross had two three-point shots to tie the game in the final seven seconds as McEachern held on.

Dominique Wilson led McEachern with 21 points, The Marietta Daily Journal reported, while Te'A Cooper had 18 and Roberts had 11. The Lady Indians held Norcross star Diamond DeShields to nine points, 13 below her average, on 3-of-15 shooting.

It was only the fifth time this season McEachern, ranked second in the nation by ESPN and third by USA Today, won by fewer than 10 points.

One of those four was against Hillgrove (26-4), which has lost to McEachern 77-40, 43-37 and 63-37. The only other Lady Hawk loss was to AA state finalist , 51-39, on Nov. 22.

Hillgrove gets another shot after staging a big second-half comeback against North Gwinnett.

Despite starting the game almost as hot as McEachern with a 9-2 lead, the Lady Hawks trailed 34-25 with about two minutes left in the third quarter, then outscored the Lady Bulldogs 31-17 the rest of the way, the AJC said.

Point guard Celina Rodrigo scored 15 fourth-quarter points to lead the comeback, the Gwinnett Daily Post said. She finished with 18 points.

McKenzie Engram led Hillgrove with 20 points, including three fourth-quarter baskets, the AJC said.

The win gives Hillgrove Coach Sheryl Fowler to end her career with a state title. She is retiring after this season, her sixth at Hillgrove; she also coached at McEachern for 16 years, the MDJ said.

Tickets to the AAAAA tournament finale are $10. The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be shown on Georgia Public Broadcasting as well as ghsa.tv.


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