VALDOSTA —
Valdosta’s girls basketball team began the state playoffs with a 58-51 win over Hillgrove on Tuesday evening at the VHS gym.
The Lady Wildcats built an 18-point lead in the third quarter, then held off a late rally by the Lady Hawks to advance to the second round.
The Lady Wildcats improved to 22-5 with the win. They will face either Alcovy or East Coweta in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday.
“It feels good to get back to the Sweet 16,” Valdosta head coach E.A. Wilcox said. “I’m proud of my girls for their effort today.”
With 1:26 left in the first half, Valdosta trailed 22-21 after a three-pointer by Hillgrove’s Tene Thompson. But that would be the Lady Hawks’ last lead of the night.
After Stormm Phillips’ jumper gave Valdosta the lead again, Wilcox changed defenses, going to a full court press, and in a span of 14 seconds, Shaneika Smith and Tiaera Phillips both stole the ball in Hillgrove’s end of the court and scored. Stormm Phillips’ free throw with 1.9 seconds left in the half was Valdosta’s seventh straight point, and it gave the Lady Wildcats a 28-22 halftime lead.
Valdosta’s run continued in the second half. Destiny Covert scored twice in the first 1:01 of the third quarter. Then Stormm Phillips drove to the basket for a layup. Thompson hit a jumper for Hillgrove, but at the other end of the court, Valdosta got the ball inside to Covert for a basket. Covert made a jumper, then Tiaera Phillips made two layups in a span of 18 seconds, increasing Valdosta’s lead to 42-24.
In a span of 5:27, the Lady Wildcats had gone on a 21-2 run, and they had turned a one-point deficit into an 18-point lead.
But the Lady Hawks weren’t ready to throw in the towel. Hillgrove star Mackenzie Engram scored six points in the final 3:22 of the third quarter and Zarriah Pierce drained a three-pointer. Those points helped the Lady Hawks cut Valdosta’s lead down to nine, 44-35, at the end of three periods.
Hillgrove continued to trim its deficit in the fourth quarter. A 9-2 run brought the Lady Hawks within three points, 51-48, with 1:55 left in the game. Then Covert missed an open layup, Hillgrove got the rebound and Engram scored to make it a one-point game, 51-50, with 1:28 left on the clock.
But that was as close as they would get. Hillgrove pressed, but Valdosta beat the press and fired a long pass down the court to Covert. This time, she made the layup, giving Valdosta another three-point lead, 53-50. Engram made one of two free throws, but Kaneshia Kimbrough answered with two free throws for Valdosta. A Hillgrove three-point attempt was too long and went out of bounds, then Smith’s free throw gave the Lady Wildcats a 56-51 lead.
A few seconds later, Stormm Phillips was fouled and missed both of her free throws, but then she stole the ball back, got fouled again and made one of two shots with 16.4 seconds left. Then Covert grabbed a defensive rebound with 4.6 seconds left and sealed the victory with a free throw, making the Lady ’Cats final margin of victory seven points, 58-51.
The teams’ free throw shooting kept the game close. Hillgrove was 11 of 13 from the free throw line, while Valdosta struggled from the line for the second game in a row, making just 8 of 25 shots.
Covert was Valdosta’s leading scorer, with 17 points. Tiaera Phillips scored 13 points and Stormm Phillips added 12 points.
Engram, one of the state’s top junior forwards, scored 24 points for Hillgrove on Tuesday. Thompson added 12 points.
Valdosta’s boys team will play its first round game today at 4 p.m. at Hillgrove, which is located in Powder Springs, a city in northwest metro Atlanta.
Local Sports
Lady Wildcats move on
- Local Sports
-
-
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
-
Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
-
Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
-



