The only thing that can break up the team of Bella Brick and Landon Mealor is graduation. Otherwise the Flowery Branch duo might just win the GHSA Coed 3-Point Contest in perpetuity.
Brick, a senior, and Mealor, a sophomore, easily won the event for the second year – the only two years of its existence.
“It’s just something special,” Brick said. “We practice a lot and get in a lot or reps. Not many people can say they won a championship. Neither one of our teams got in the playoffs, so it was fun to be able to continue our season and be in the same atmosphere as all the other state championship teams.”
The contest requires each member of the team to shoot two racks of five balls, plus a bonus ball. Each basket is worth one point, with the bonus ball worth three points.
Brick said they have regular practice time in the gym and work off the racks, just like they do in the contest.
Brick and Mealor scored 23 points in the first round. The Griffin team of Camiya Starks and Damaris Lewis and the Rabun County team of Ellie Southard and Cooper Welch tied with 14 points. Starks and Lewis won the shootoff.
The Griffin duo scored 10 points in the final round, but Brick and Mealor totaled 17.
Brick, the class valedictorian, will sign a track scholarship with the University of Georgia this week and leave her young friend to find a new shooting partner for next year.
“I’ve got two more years I can do this,” Mealor said.
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