MARIETTA, Ga. — Keidra Young poured in 37 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to lead Gainesville to a 70-66 upset win over Sprayberry in the first round of the Class 6A girls state tournament on Tuesday.
"She did a good job tonight of playing smart and being able to stay on the floor for us," Gainesville coach Vanessa White said about Young. "She was the key factor tonight. She did a good job of stepping up and taking over the game tonight."
It was the first playoff win for the Lady Red Elephants (22-4) since 2016. They will take on Woodstock on the road on Friday in the second round.
"I'm very, very excited for girls," White said. "It's the first time this group has been in the state tournament, so it's really good to see them take that next step. They've put in a lot of work. We started in April, and seeing the growth and the daily progress every day has been joyful to watch."
Gainesville, the No. 4 seed from Region 8-6A, opened strong against the Region 7-6A champion Lady Yellow Jackets (18-10), who came in on a seven-game win streak. The Lady Red Elephants jumped out to a 20-16 lead on the strength of 9 points from Keidra Young. Gainesville took a 36-30 lead into halftime.
Sprayberry's Haley Jones set the Lady Yellow Jackets on a 14-5 run, scoring eight of the 14 points to cut Big Red's lead to 50-47 with 1:27 left in the third quarter. Sierra Carter splashed a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to the tie game at 50.
Sprayberry kept the hot streak going, scoring on its first four trips down the floor in the final period to take a 59-53 lead with 5:15 left. Young took over from there and led Gainesville's 17-5 spurt in the flast4 minutes to win the game. The senior scored 13 points in the final period to help the Lady Red Elephants pull off the upset.
"I'm super proud of them," White said. "I told them to get their head up, shoulders back, and get out there and continue to fight. I told them before the game it's not about getting knocked down; it's about the team that gets up and lives to fight another day."
Keke Jones, Julia Payne, and Zaria Williams all had 8 points for Gainesville.
Haley Jones paced Sprayberry with 17 points, 12 in the second-half comeback.
