MARIETTA - Carrollton's gameplan against Gainesville in the second round of the Class AAA girls state basketball playoffs was to not let Kita Waller beat them.
Unfortunately for the Lady Red Elephants, they executed it brilliantly in taking a 43-40 win Thursday night at the Marietta High gym.
Carrollton (26-3) advances to play Avondale in Saturday's Elite Eight matchup. Gainesville finishes the year at 24-6.
The Lady Trojans hounded the Virginia Commonwealth signee the entire game holding her to just nine points, only two in the second half.
"I thought their defense in general was the difference in the game, especially against Kita," Gainesville coach Manson Hill said. "They only gave her a few clean looks and had at least two people were around her the whole game."
It was a defensive slugfest from the beginning. Carrollton forced 16 Gainesville turnovers for the game while Gainesville dominated the glass outrebounding the Lady Trojans 27-14.
But the Lady Trojans got going after falling behind 6-2. They used a 9-0 run to take an 11-6 lead early in the second quarter and then put together a 10-0 run later in the quarter to run out to a 23-13 lead. Gainesville closed the gap to 26-19 by halftime.
The Lady Elephants got back in the game in the third quarter using its size and Erin Tyre's shooting. The junior poured in nine of team-high 14 points to in the quarter as Gainesville rallied to tie the game at 28.
"Erin played a heck of a game and stepped up when we needed her," Hill said. "We just couldn't get enough going on offense as a team , though."
Carrollton took a 34-42 lead into the fourth quarter but on offensive rebound and put-back by Lauren Darnell gave Gainesville a 38-36 lead with 4:40 left in the game.
But again the Carrollton defense went to work holding the Lady Elephants to just two Tyre free throws the rest of the way, finishing the game with a 7-2 run.
Jatoya McBride led Carrollton with 10 points and had three rebounds and four steals. Janyce Ealey came of the bench to score nine points and also had four steals as the two quick guards hounded Gainesville ballhandlers all night.
Waller, who also had four rebounds and three blocks, finished her stellar career with just under 1,500 career points - fourth all-time on Gainesville's list - over 800 rebounds and over 100 steals. Darnell will prepare for the upcoming girls golf season. She was a state champion two years ago and finished second last year.
Hill said his squad gave him everything he asked at the end.
"The effort was great. We just played a great team that was a little better than us (tonight)," he said. "Kita played about as well as you could play considering the attention she drew. She's had a great career and is the kind of kid you wish you had about six or seven of every year.
"We'll miss her, and the rest of the seniors, but I expect her to have a tremendous career after high school. We'll get to watch Kita next year and hopefully Lauren can do well during the golf season again."
Sunday
May 25th, 2025
11:10PM
