Winder-Barrow is headed to the state championship game for the first time in program history, but it wasn’t easy.
Sophomore post Olivia Nelson-Ododa dominated on the inside, and the Bulldoggs survived a furious comeback by Brunswick in a 65-52 win over the Pirates on Saturday in a Class AAAAA semifinal at Columbus State University.
The Bulldoggs, who were the fourth seed out of Region 8, will face the Southwest DeKalb-Sequoyah winner in the championship game at 7 p.m., Friday in Macon.
Nelson-Ododa scored 20 of her game-high 29 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that put the Bulldoggs up 11-2 early in the first quarter. Winder-Barrow would lead by as many as 14 in the second quarter.
The Pirates weren’t going away, though. They turned up the defensive pressure and scored the last six points of the first half and the first four of the third quarter to get within six. Sophomore guard Antonisha Davis continue the run with a couple 3-pointers from the right corner, and senior forward Jomaiya Garner hit a layup to cut the Winder-Barrow lead to 40-39.
Brunswick took its first lead of the game on a turnaround jumper by senior guard Symone Palmer with six minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But the Bulldoggs had an answer.
Sophomore forward Latrice Perkins hit a layup and a jumper, and Nelson-Ododa converted off a nice feed from freshman Chellia Watson that put the Bulldoggs 58-49 with three minutes to play. Perkins finished with nine points, and Watson had all six of her points in the second half.
With a minute left, Winder-Barrow had three sophomores, a freshman and a junior on the floor. Guard Tierra Mayweather is the only senior listed on the Bulldoggs’ roster. But with a large contingency of fans on their feet for the final minutes, the young Bulldoggs would not wilt. And now they’re headed to Macon.
“It feels great,” Winder-Barrow coach Brandon Thomas said. “One of my friends who has done this before said at this point, it’s like a river, going fast and you’re just trying not to hit the rocks.”
Brunswick won Region 3 and reached the state semifinals , after being knocked out in the quarterfinals the past three years under coach Maria Mangram. Senior guard Akira Harris led the Pirates with 15 points, and Palmer added 12.
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