The championship reign of the Westlake Lions will continue for another year.
Westlake became the seventh girls basketball program in GHSA history to win four consecutive state championships when it pulled away from Carrollton for a 64-46 victory in the Class 6A final Friday night at the Macon Coliseum.
The top-ranked Lions (20-0) have not lost a game played in Georgia during their four-year run, and they finished this season as the only undefeated girls team in the state. Westlake won its previous three championships in Class 7A before moving down in a reclassification.
Third-ranked Carrollton, seeking its first title since 2009, was the only team in the state to reach the 30-victory mark, finishing 30-2.
“To say it was easy would be a lie,” Westlake coach Hilda Hankerson said. “The whole thing is that those seniors that were here for the very first championship really dug in, and that’s only two of them (Raven Johnson and Brianna Turnage). Only two people are here that will get four rings. The others are enjoying the situation. But those two said they were not going to let us down, and they led us to the promised land.”
Johnson, the AJC’s 2020 all-classification player of the year, had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, and she controlled the ball in the Lions’ spread offense in the fourth quarter. Turnage had 11 points and nine rebounds. Westlake outrebounded the Trojans 39-19, leading to a 34-12 advantage in points in the pant and a 16-3 edge in second-chance points.
Westlake’s leading scorers were Ta’Niya Latson with 24 and Camerah Langston with 12.
Westlake led by only four, at 40-36, with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter, but outscored Carrollton 10-0 over the next seven minutes, going up 50-36 on a layup by Johnson with 3:12 left in the game.
Carrollton never got closer than 11 points.
Carrollton used hot shooting from 3-point range to stay close early. Two 3-pointers by Eghosa Obasuyi in the first three minutes helped the Trojans take an 8-2 lead, and the score was tied 25-25 at halftime. Carrollton shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and was 4-of-8 on 3-pointers, while Westlake shot just 40 percent from the field.
“We weren’t executing our offense,” Hankerson said. “I think we were a little tight because of the moment. We were making two passes and jacking it up. So once we straightened that out in the locker room, we got better.”
De’Mauri Flournoy, the Region 5 player of the year, had only two points at halftime but finished with a team-high 15 for the Trojans.
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Carrollton - 13-12-11-10 - 46
Westlake - 14-11-19-20 - 64
Carrollton (46)
De’Mauri Flournoy 15, Kehinde Obasuyi 13, Eghosa Obasuyi 9, Jenee Edwards 6, Kanija Daniel 3, Marneja Daniel, Shamari Vaughn.
Westlake (64)
Ta’Niya Latson 24, Camerah Langston 12, Brianna Turnage 11, Raven Johnson 10, Rhyann Wilson 5, Misia McKinney 2, Cynthia Walton.
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