Lady Knights 'survive' against Cartersville

GAINESVILLE - Survive and advance is the name of the game at state playoff time.

The Johnson girls basketball team took that strategy a little more literally than coach Benji Wood was hoping for, squeaking out a 59-56 win over Cartersville Saturday in the first round of the Class AAA tournament.

"That's what you want to do, survive. But I don't necessarily like things that close," Wood said.

Johnson (21-8) advances to play Avondale at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mt. Zion High School in Jonesboro.

The Lady Knights looked to have the game in control with a 49-36 lead at the end of the third quarter.

But Cartersville (20-6) got hot. The Lady Hurricanes used an 18-5 run to tie the game at 54-54. After Johnson committed three turnovers in four possession, Cartersville took its first lead, 56-55, since the first quarter with 1:15 left.

"I think our youth showed a lot in the fourth quarter," Wood said. "We didn't play very good defense and we didn't make smart decisions on offense."

Sophomore Whitney Randolph, however, saved the Lady Knights. Randolph converted a three-point play to give the Lady Knights a 58-56 lead and then stole a Cartersville pass with 2 seconds left to seal the game.

"She made some big plays at the end to save us. We got the first one out of the way but we're going to have to improve in a lot of areas if we want to advance next week," Wood said.

Randolph finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Brooke Baker had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists and Laura Simmons 10 points for Johnson.

Damisha Moore had 19 to lead Cartersville. Misty Johnson added 13, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to get the Lady Hurricanes back in the game.