GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Chestatee always has Region 8-4A Player of the Year, Riley Black. The Lady War Eagles, however, unleashed their secret weapon on Stockbridge Friday night in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Freshman Blakely Boyd hounded, harassed, and frustrated the Lady Tigers’ leading everything, Carrington Wilson, on the defensive end so much it allowed the Chestatee offense to open a quick lead and lead from start to finish in an impressive 66-56 win at the Lynn Cottrell Center.
Wilson, who came in averaging nearly a double-double along with 4 steals and 4 assists a game, did not score a field goal until the fourth quarter and essentially was a non-factor, finishing with just 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and just 2 steals.
“Blakely is the definition of a DAWG!” Chestatee coach Sutton Shirley said. “She always gets after it and is one of the hardest-working players we have in the program. She was phenomenal out there.
“(Putting her on Wilson) wasn’t the initial game plan, but when we brought her in, I had no doubt she would give us what we needed. She was very impactful on the court despite not scoring a point. Just did a great, great job.”
Boyd said she just tried to follow the script.
“My assignment was just to play defense and try to keep her out of the paint and get her in foul trouble. That’s what I tried to do,” Boyd said. “I think she started to get frustrated there at the end of the half.”
Sophomore Caroline Bull, who also had a career game pouring in 20 points, including five 3-pointers, said Boyd’s effort was a game-changer.
“Blakely’s effort was huge,” Bull said. “We knew going in we had to slow (Wilson) down. Blakely did an amazing job. She was on her tight the entire game.”
While Boyd was taking the Lady Tigers’ best player out of the game, Black wasted little time in breaking down a Stockbridge defense that came in, allowing just 39.3 points/per game. Black poured in 9 early points from various spots, and Bull hit two early 3-pointers that set the tone.
The Lady War Eagles led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter and took a stunning 34-18 lead into halftime. Bull had 14 in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Chestatee hit the 39-point mark midway through the third quarter.
Sophomore guard Kahli Ingram did everything she could to keep the Lady Tigers (21-9) in the game in the third quarter. Ingram poured in 9 points in the first four minutes and sparked a 13-3 run to pull them within 37-31. Ingram finished with 24 points, but she got little help from the rest of the offense.
Black sparked a 9-2 run to answer, and Chestatee led by as many as 13 on three separate occasions over the final 9 minutes of the game. But Stockbridge had one final push, getting to 56-50 with just over two minutes left on five straight points from Wilson.
But Chestatee hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to hold on. Black was 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter alone as part of her 34 points. She is averaging 28 ppg in the 2023 playoffs.
The Lady War Eagles will next get Griffin in the quarterfinals. Chestatee will play host on Tuesday due to the GHSA coin flip earlier in the week. Tip-off has yet to be determined.
The win in the second round snapped an all-time 0-5 streak in the Sweet 16 and gave Chestatee its first-ever Elite 8 berth in program history. Shirley said his group deserved to be one to break the ceiling.
“With the way they worked and the way they played, no one deserves it more than this bunch of girls. They are Elite,” Shirley said. “But they earned it. It feels really, really good to finally get here.
“Now, we want to go try and make some more history next week.”
