The Lumpkin County girls basketball team began State competition at home against Oconee on Tuesday, Feb. 21 as the team earned a 72-47 victory to advance in the tournament.
Oconee came into the GHSA State Tournament with an 11-16 overall record after taking third in Region 8-AAA.
Lumpkin (23-4 overall) finished second in their Region after a tough loss in the finals to Wesleyan.
On Tuesday, the Indians exploded onto the court in the first quarter.
They found Themselves up 10-2 after a big offensive attack by Mary Mullinax and Averie Jones. Before time expired in the quarter, the Indians were up 14-7.
Lumpkin Head Coach David Dowse said the team didn’t shoot great in the first half, but they found their footing in the second and things started to click.
“Averie really had a good game. But we're best when we have some balance to it,” Dowse added. “So we have to get a couple of others who are more than capable in there, but it’ll come.”
Lumpkin continued the attack early in the second as they jumped ahead 20-8 early in the second quarter. The Warriors managed to find some momentum as they pulled within 10 points with 2:23 to go.
But the Indians found their groove once again with a flurry of three-point shots.
Ciera Brooks, Mullinax, and Lexi Pierce dropped a trio of three-point shots, putting the Indians ahead 31-13. The Warriors hit two free throws in the final seconds of the half to go into halftime with a score of 31-15.
Both teams ultimately found offense in the third quarter, but the Indians maintained their lead, outscoring the Warriors 21-20.
The duo of Jones and Mullinax combined for most of the team’s scoring in the quarter.
As the third quarter came to a close, the Indians were up 52-35.
Lumpkin continued to impose their will on Oconee, outscoring them 20-12 in the fourth, securing the 72-47 win.
WELL-EARNED WIN
One of the key players in the game for Lumpkin, Jones recalled what the win means for the team after coming up short against Wesleyan.
“It builds us back a lot. [Defeating Oconee] was kind of like a base game where we got our bearings back and figured some stuff out,” she said. “In the end, it's important to have that game, but the Wesleyan game fueled us and we were coming out guns blazing."
Jones reflected on the team’s performance.
“With our team we play for each other. When we're all moving the ball and making our shots, we're unstoppable,” Jones said. “We know where everyone is on the floor and our energy and when everything is going our way it's just perfect. We're able to do what we do, making the good shots and the good passes and we end up winning a lot of games.”
Dowse hopes the team can work on how it defends the competition.
“Defense is about effort and communication. The offense is about skill and execution,” he said. “I thought we were better offensively than we were against Wesleyan with our execution. [It] wasn’t perfect but it was better. Defensively they’re good but we have to make it better.”
Dowse is looking for the team to continue the same kind of play going forward in the tournament.
“I hope to see more of what we saw here tonight with a few improvements,” Dowse said. “Defensively we can clean some things up, but I felt like we were playing basketball the way we want to play. We played fast.”
Dowse said he told the team that Oconee was going to try to slow the game down. But Lumpkin was able to play fast and do a good job getting out in transition.
UP NEXT
Lumpkin is set to make the long journey to Fort Oglethorpe to take on Lakeview on Friday Feb. 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Lakeview comes into the game with a 26-1 overall record and is currently on an eight-game winning streak.
But as the defending State Champions, Lumpkin hopes to prove their dominance against a tough opponent in the second round of the State Tournament.