FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — An emotional Kassie Scott summed up her team’s historic 63-54 win over Monroe-Albany perfectly.
“These girls just keep fighting,” the Cherokee Bluff head coach said. “They never quit.”
That mentality was on display for 32 minutes at Cherokee Bluff Gym in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A tournament Tuesday night.
The Lady Bears (23-8) fought off the Tornadoes (24-6) repeatedly, including four-star prospect Kie'aundria Acree, who scored a game-high 38 points.
The win sends the Lady Bears to the semifinals at Fort Valley State on Friday against No. 8 seed Jenkins, who upset No. 1 Pickens, 48-39. It's the program's first-ever Final Four appearance. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
Bluff led 10-3 in the third quarter, but Acree jump-started a 7-0 run to close the quarter tied, 10-10.
Then it was on.
Acree, who had 12 in the second quarter, led the Tornadoes to their largest game lead, 16-12, with 5:15 left in the second. But the Lady Bears fired back with Audrey Graham, and Bristol Kersh scored the next two baskets to tie the game. It was one of four ties in a quarter that featured nine lead changes, including Kersh's 3-pointer at the horn to give the Lady Bears a 25-23 lead at the half.
"She's a great, great player," Kersh said about Acree. "We knew she was going to score, so we had to do our job offensively."
Kersh finished the night with 21 points and was key in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter when her layup with 4:58 left led the Lady Bears' 7-0 spurt to take total control of the game, which included the dagger of the night, a corner 3-pointer from Graham to give Bluff a 53-46 lead with 2:30 remaining.
"Our fight is what has carried us through these games," Scott said. "We are able to pull away in the moments that we need to because we tire teams out because of our conditioning. We were able to do that tonight in the fourth quarter and get it done."
Claire Carlson, who opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers, iced the game down the stretch, hitting seven straight foul shots and was 9-of-10 in the final eight minutes.
"For her to knock those (foul shots) down is big time, and that's just what Claire does," Scott said. "She's calm under pressure, and she did it."
Graham finished the night with eight points. Halle Wilson had six points, including a huge offensive stick back and a foul shot to push the lead 56-48 with 1:55 left. Emery Jones and Neena Harbuck chipped in two each.
The Lady Bears will be challenged in the next round against Jenkins (20-8), who knocked off the overall No. 1 seeded Dragonettes in Jasper on Tuesday. The Lady Warriors also beat Jefferson in the second round, 47-38, a team that beat Bluff twice this season.
Kersh said although the win on Tuesday was exciting, it's time to get back to work.
"Everyone has to do their part offensively and defensively," she said. "On the bench and off the bench, we have to lock in at practice, study film, and find out as much we can about them."
