Friday's Class 3A girls state title game features the two most dominant teams in the classification.
Defending champion and No. 3 Lumpkin County will look to defend its title against a solid top-ranked Hebron Christian Academy Friday at 1 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum.
The Lady Indians have won 81 games over the last three seasons, won the 2022 Class 3A championship and a Final Four appearance in 2021, making this team the best-ever in Lumpkin County history.
As for the Lady Lions, since Jan Azar took over the program ahead of the 2019-20 season, the Lions are 116-9 (a 92.8 winning percentage) with a state championship in 2021, a state runner-up finish in 2022, and a Final Four appearance in 2020.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GIRLS FINALS FOR March 10
LUMPKIN COUNTY vs. HEBRON CHRISTIAN
-- WHEN: 1 p.m.
-- WHERE: Macon Coliseum, Macon
-- LUMPKIN COUNTY (26-4): Region 7-3A runner-up; beat Calvary Day, 78-31, in the semifinals
-- HEBRON CHRISTIAN (31-0): Region 8-3A champion; beat Wesleyan, 65-58, in the semifinals
-- NOTABLE: Both Hebron and Lumpkin have two common opponents this season, with Hebron knocking off Region 7-3A mates White County, 68-53, and Wesleyan, 65-58, in last week's semifinals. Lumpkin swept White county in the regular season and lost twice to Wesleyan in the three meetings, including the Region 7-3A title game ... This title game will be a battle between the two most dominant teams in Class 3A. Hebron has won 31 straight games and is 116-9 since head coach Jane Azar jumped from Wesleyan to Hebron three years ago... but Hebron has only one state title (2021) in those three seasons. They lost to Mt. Paran last season in Macon ... Hebron is led by Kayla Lane, who scored 14 points and knocked down four 3-pointers against Wesleyan last week, Amiya Porter, Jakerra Butler, Aniya Moodie and Nicky Daniel... Hebron has dominated its opponents in the playoffs, winning by 36.3 points per game. They've averaged 77 ppg in the playoffs while holding opponents under 40 ppg... Lumpkin County is on an impressive three-year run, having lost a heartbreaker to Cross Creek in the semifinals two years ago and winning the Class 3A state title last year ... this group of Lady Indians has won more than 90 games in the last four seasons ... Led by Lexi Pierce (11.3 ppg), Mary Mullinax (18 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Kate Jackson (10.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg), Averie Jones (16.8 ppg) and Ciera Brooks (6.5 ppg, 3 rpg), the Lady Indians have only lost twice to Georgia opponents, both to Wesleyan — 74-68 on Dec. 6 and 62-52 on Feb. 18. They also beat Wesleyan 70-48 on Jan. 20. Lumpkin County has stormed through the bracket, all but one game on the road, winning by an average of 30.3 points per game. Lumpkin County has averaged 69.8 points per game in the playoffs, almost five points better than the regular season average, and given up 39.5 ppg, also an improvement compared to the regular season.
