COLUMBUS — The Gainesville girls built an early first quarter lead but could not off a furious charge by Columbus in a heartbreaking 48-42 loss to the Lady Blue Devils in the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
The Lady Red Elehants led 18-8 after the first quarter after getting off to a blistering start shooting the ball. They hit their first five shots, aided by several Columbus turnovers, in building the quick lead.
But the shots that were falling in the first quarter did not fall after that, especially in the second half. Columbus pulled within 27-26 by halftime and took the lead for good in the third quarter.
Ariyah Copeland was the difference for the Lady Blue Devils. The 6-foot-3 junior poured in 17 points and pulled down 23 rebounds as Gainesville (19-7) had no answer inside.
"They just started pounding the ball inside to (Copeland) and we really couldn't do much to stop her," Gainesville coach Brenda Hill-Gilmore said. "We played well in the first half but we couldn't get many shots to fall after the first quarter."
Copeland outrebounded the entire Gainesville team. The Lady Red Elephants pulled down just 15 rebounds for the game to 37 for Columbus.
Gainesville was able to stay in the game by forcing 19 Columbus turnovers. The Lady Red Elephants had just five turnovers for the game.
Taylor Hawks paced Gainesville with 20 points. Shikiya Brown added eight, Breanna Fair had seven, and Kayla Kelly had six rebounds for the Lady Red Elephants.
