Although Winder-Barrow’s Lady Bulldoggs wound up third in subregion 8-AAAAA North play, they made a statement Friday night when they defeated No. 2 seed Gainesville 43-32 in the regular-season finale.
Winder-Barrow put three players in double figures and had another with nine points, outscoring the Lady Red Elephants 19-6 over the last 6:04 to take its biggest lead of the game at the end of the contest.
If the Lady Doggs win Monday, they will face Clarke Central at Flowery Branch Tuesday night.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa led the Lady Doggs in Friday’s game with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Latrice Perkins and Tiera Mayweather, the Lady Doggs’ only senior, each scored 10 points and freshman Chellia Watson tallied nine.
Shikiya Brown led Gainesville with 10 points, Breanna Fair had eight and Taylor Hawks scored seven, including the Lady Red Elephants’ last six of the game.
Gainesville scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and took its last lead at 26-24 with 6:35 left in the game.
Two baskets by Nelson-Ododa and a pair of free throws by Perkins gave the Lady Doggs the lead for good.
Hawks made a bucket with 4:08 left to get Gainesville back within two points, but Mayweather sank a 3-point basket and Perkins and Nelson-Ododa each made a free throw to increase the lead to 35-28.
Two foul shots by Hawks got Gainesville within 35-30, but Watson sank both ends of a bonus free-throw situation and Mayweather scored with 40.3 seconds remaining to push Winder-Barrow ahead by nine, 39-30.
Hawks sank two more free throws with 23.1 left, but they were Gainesville’s last points of the game.
Two more foul shots by Watson and a layup by Mayweather in the last 19.3 seconds accounted for the final margin.
In a first quarter that saw the lead change hands four times, Gainesville jumped out to an early lead.
Nelson-Ododa, Perkins and Jakayla Sullivan combined for eight points to give the Lady Doggs an 8-5 lead, but the Lady Red Elephants finished the period with five straight points and took a 10-8 lead at the quarter break.
A 3-pointer by Gainesville’s Kayla Kelly tied the score two minutes into the third quarter, but a free throw by Sullivan gave the Lady Doggs back the lead and they led 24-21 heading into the final period.
Each team scored only five points in the third period.
The Lady Red Elephants’ Fair tied the score again with a 3-pointer early in the fourth period and Gainesville regained the lead briefly before Winder-Barrow went on its game-winning run.