Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 3B
Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bulldoggs basketball: Class AAAAA State Championship Preview
TANNER KATE
SAULS
LEXI
MADDOX
OLIVIA
NELSON-ODODA
LATRICE
PERKINS
ANTORIA
JOHNSON
TIERA
MAYWEATHER
JAKAYLA BAYLEY
SULLIVAN RANDALL
KAYLA SHONTERIA
HUBBARD HARRIS
CHELLIA
WATSON
High School Basketball: Final Four
High School Basketball: Elite Eight
WBHS continues state tournament
success with win against Brunswick
Lady Doggs defeat Mays in quarterfinals
By Chris Bridges
Journal Sports Editor
Winder-Barrow High School 51
Mays High School 46
By Chris B ridg'es
Journal Sports Editor
The winning continued
for the Winder-Barrow
High School Lady Bull
doggs Saturday (Feb. 27).
WBHS defeated Bruns
wick 65-52 in a Class
AAAAA state semifi
nal game and has now
advanced to the state
championship against
Southwest DeKalb, to be
played Friday at 7 p.m. in
Macon.
The Lady Bulldoggs
controlled Saturday’s
contest throughout and
while Brunswick pulled
to within two points after
the third quarter (45-43),
and took a one-point lead
on two occasions in the
fourth quarter, it was
WBHS which closed the
game out on a 17-3 run.
After finishing last
month’s 8-AAAAA tour
nament as a No. 4 seed,
the Lady Bulldoggs are
the final team standing
WBHS
65
Brunswick
52
from the region. South
west DeKalb defeated
Sequoyah 55-47 in the
other semifinal contest in
Columbus.
WBHS has now won
three state tournament
games in Columbus,
including a victory at
Carver-Columbus High
School and wins at
Columbus State Univer
sity against Mays High
School and Brunswick.
In Saturday’s semi
final contest, the Lady
Pirates never led by more
than two points and that
included a 2-0 lead to
start the contest. Bruns
wick, which finishes the
season 30-3 overall, held
brief one-point leads in
the fourth quarter.
Nelson-Ododa, the
Region 8-AAAAA Player
of the Year, finished with
29 points for the Lady
Bulldoggs, including 20
“We have handled all the pressure other teams have
put on us. Each of the teams we have seen have applied
full court pressure. However, we have found a way to
execute. That has certainly been an impressive thing
to me.”
— Winder-Barrow High School
Lady Bulldoggs coach Brandon Thomas
Winder-Barrow vs. Southwest DeKalb
•The Game: Winder-Barrow High School vs.
Southwest DeKalb, GHSA Class AAAAA girls
basketball state championship, 7 p.m., Friday,
Macon Centreplex
• Records: Winder-Barrow High School, 26-6;
Southwest DeKalb 26-6
•Coaches: Brandon Thomas, WBHS;
Kathleen Richey Walton, Southwest DeKalb
State Tournament Wins: Winder-Barrow:
Villa Rica 53-32; Carver-Columbus 49-43; Mays
51-46; Brunswick 65-52; Southwest DeKalb:
Rome 65-22; Cross Creek 62-42; Columbus
65-50; Sequoyah 55-47
• Key Players: Winder-Barrow: Olivia Nelson-
Ododa, Tiera Mayweather, Latrice Perkins,
Chellia Watson, Lexi Maddox; Southwest
DeKalb: Ashton Draper, Daisa Alexander
•Notes: The Winder-Barrow High School
Lady Bulldoggs continue their remarkable run
through the Class AAAAA state tournament,
recording wins against Mays High School in
the Elite Eight and Brunswick in the semifinals.
Both games were played at Columbus State
University last week. The team has been play
ing at a high level and a key this Friday will be
to continue that quality play after several days
in between the semifinals and state champion
ship.
•They Said It: WBHS sophomore player T.K.
Sauls: “With all the work we have put in, we
want to finish Friday off with a win and bring
home the state championship."
•Barrow Journal Prediction: WBHS, 60,
Southwest DeKalb 59
in the first half.
Brunswick never had an
answer for the 6-4 sopho
more on either end of the
court as Nelson-Ododa
also had numerous blocks
in the semi-final contest.
Coach Brandon
Thomas said he was
impressed with how his
team responded to losing
the lead not only in the
Brunswick game, but also
in the Elite Eight contest
against Mays.
“We have been
handling all the pressure
other teams have put on
us,” Thomas said. “Each
of the teams we have seen
have applied full court
pressure. However, we
have found a way to exe
cute. That has certainly
been an impressive thing
to me.”
The slipper still fits this Cinderella.
The Winder-Barrow High School Lady
Bulldoggs have done it again, defeating
Mays High School 51-46 in the Class
AAAAA state quarterfinals in Columbus.
Thursday afternoon’s win (on Feb. 25) put
WBHS in the Final Four, which was also at
Columbus State University.
Termed “Cinderella” earlier this week
by the state's largest newspaper, something
the Lady Bulldogg players and coaches
found amusing, the WBHS team moves on
after a strong performance Thursday.
Trailing 22-19 at halftime, the Lady
Bulldoggs (25-6) turned the pressure on
both ends of the court in the second half. A
10-3 run to close out the third quarter gave
Winder-Barrow a slim 34-33 advantage.
Mays (22-8) would regain the lead in
the fourth quarter at 35-34, but a basket by
Latrice Perkins with 6:53 remaining gave
the WBHS Lady Bulldoggs a lead they
would not give up again.
Mays would pull to within 42-41 follow
ing a free throw with 4:12 left but baskets
by Chellia Watson and Perkins and a free
throw by Olivia Nelson-Ododa gave coach
Brandon Thomas' team a 47-43 lead with
1:49 to play.
Nelson-Ododa added another basket for
a six-point lead but Mays stayed alive with
a 3-point play with 55 seconds left. Two
free throws by Watson with 16 seconds
remaining sealed the victory, however, for
WBHS.
Mays held an eight-point lead in the third
quarter before the Lady Bulldoggs began
their rally on baskets by Nelson-Ododa
and Lexi Maddox and a steal and conver
sion by Perkins.
With 2:15 left in the third, Perkins tied
the game at 30-30 on a steal and layup. The
lead went back to WBHS at 32-30 after a
basket by Watson and increased to 34-30
on a putback by Maddox.
Perkins led the Lady Bulldoggs with
18 points while Nelson-Ododa and Wat
son both finished with 11. Maddox and
Jakayla Sullivan added four points each.
WBHS was just 8-of-19 from the foul
line.
When Dr. Dale Threadgill, retired Dean of Engineering at UGA, was diagnosed
with atrial fibrillation (AFib), he elected to receive treatment from a new heart
lab at Athens Regional Medical Center. The new technology allows doctors to
dramatically reduce radiation exposure by close to 90%. “I’m an engineer, I like to
look at doing things differently,” said Dr. Threadgill, “I have always felt that Athens
Regional provided excellent healthcare. That’s why, when I retired, I elected to
remain close to Athens.”
Dale Threadgill
To make an appointment with
Athens Regional Cardiology,
please call 706.475.1700.
See Dale’s story
and share your own at
AthensHealth.org/YourStory
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