Thursday March 28th, 2024 10:19PM

Girls basketball playoffs: Lumpkin Co. takes out defending champs in rematch

By Tim Whitmire

AUGUSTA — It only seemed fitting that the Lumpkin County girls would get a shot to turn the tables on Cross Creek on the road in the 2022 Georgia High School Association playoffs.

The Lady Indians suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Lady Razorbacks in the 2021 Class 3A semifinals at Lynn Cottrell Court. In 2022, the two teams got the much-anticipated rematch.

This time, Lumpkin County rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to take out the defending state champions with a 49-39 victory.

Junior Averie Jones was the catalyst, scoring 9 consecutive points, including the 1,000th of her career, as part of a 20-0 run that helped the Lady Indians erase a 21-7 deficit.

“We had to settle down offensively and I felt that we could take advantage of some of their aggressiveness,” Dowse said. “In the second half we got some really good looks and Averie got started and that kind of lit the fire.”

The victory advances Lumpkin to their second consecutive Class AAA final four appearance.

Jones finished with 26 points to pace Lumpkin County. Mary Mullinax had 9 and Lexi Pierce added 8 for the Lady Indians.

Lumpkin now awaits the winner of Wednesday’s Westminster-Sumter County game for Saturday’s 2 p.m. semifinal showdown at Georgia College in Milledgeville.

  • Associated Categories: Sports, High School Sports
  • Associated Tags: High school basketball, Lumpkin County girls basketball
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