The Lumpkin County High School Girls Basketball team took down East Forsyth 66-51 on Tuesday in the 7 AAA Region Championship Final to complete a perfect sweep of all of its region foes in both regular and postseason play and claim its second straight Region Championship.
The win now sets up Lumpkin to host the first two rounds of the state tournament, if they advance, with the possibility of hosting a third round matchup depending on the GHSA’s “Universal Coinflip.”
TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
When talking about the LCHS Girls Basketball team, the word ‘focus’ comes up a lot.
Andperhaps that focus was never more on display than when the team quietly walked off the court after a 51-point thrashing of rival Dawson County in the semifinals of the 7 AAA Region Tournament on Saturday.
“They’re not jumping up and down, there’s no celebration,” head coach David Dowse said. “We have six games left to play and unless we get to that sixth game we haven’t accomplished our goal. This is just another step in the process. They are laser-focused. We’re ready to go.”
That focus is so strong that sophomore guard Averie Jones didn’t even realize that she’d knocked down a nearly unprecedented number of threes in a single game, matching teammate Lexi Pierce’s mark from last season with seven, until after the game was over.
“I don’t really focus on it at all,” Jones said. “All I’m worried about is the scoreboard and what we’re doing on offense. If I get the ball I’ll shoot it, but other than that I don’t really focus on it.”
The team as a whole hit 13 threes in the game, raining down shots from all over the court to eventually take an 80-29 win in the region tournament semifinal.
As Dawson supporters wondered if Lumpkin would come out rusty after a week with no games, thanks to the team’s No. 1 seed, the Indians quickly proved that would not be the case, busting open the game from a 4-4 tie early in the first quarter to 30-4 in the beginning of the second quarter. Jones said her and her teammates were just as surprised as anyone.
“We didn’t even notice,” she said of the 26-0 run. “We looked up just like everybody else like ‘oh my gosh, it’s 30-4.’ We had no idea.”
While the result was never in doubt after the hot start, 7 AAA Region Player of the Year Mary Mullinax said she could tell the game would be different before it even began.
“Honestly, I just had a feeling before the game even started,” Mullinax said. “We won tipoff and then I just knew immediately it was our game.”
With Dawson’s emphasis relying so heavily on stopping Lumpkin’s post player Kate Jackson, Dowse said it seemed to leave the three point shot open, which his players took advantage of.
“I think they were trying to protect the paint,” he said of Dawson’s strategy. “We were prepared for what they did, we weren’t really surprised. We feel like within our scheme and our playbook, we have answers for whatever teams are going to do. We just have to execute them.”
Although scoring 80 points with 13 three pointers has a flashy feel that catches people’s attention, Mullinax knows there’s more to Lumpkin’s success than hitting shots.
“We have a really good offense, but we don’t rely on our offense,” she said. “We take defense very seriously and once we lock in on defense, it creates our transition points through fastbreaks and offense. We’re so well-rounded and each have our own strengths that tie well together and that just allows us to do really well.”
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
The Indians fought through foul trouble and took East Forsyth’s best shot, which was perhaps their toughest test of the season, yet still managed to come away with a 15-point victory in the final to claim a second-straight Region Championship trophy.
Lumpkin trailed at the end of the first quarter before going on an 14-1 run to create some separation in the second quarter and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The second half saw the Indians methodically maintain and grow their lead before finally getting to celebrate once the clock hit zero.
Now Lumpkin prepares for the State Tournament, which is set to start on Tuesday, Feb. 22.