Lowndes guard Faith Johnson (11) handles the ball during a Class 7A state playoff game against Westlake Tuesday at the Crimson Colosseum.

VALDOSTA – Despite a lengthy delay for a light malfunction in the fourth quarter, the Lowndes Vikettes took care of business in their state playoff opener.

The 30-plus minute delay came with the Vikettes leading the Westlake Lions 49-23 with 4:57 remaining. Once the lights returned, not much changed on the floor as the Vikettes (19-8) cruised past the Lions (11-17) 58-29 Tuesday night.

Despite the lopsided victory, head coach Antonia Tookes’ standards remain high for her team as it advanced to the second round for the second year in a row.

“We played OK,” Tookes said flatly. “We played OK. We can definitely play better. We had a few turnovers early – I call them ill-advised turnovers – for no reason, so we’ve got to settle down because the next round, every round, get tougher.”

Sophomore guard Kaci Demps scored a game-high 22 points to lead Lowndes to its fifth straight win. Senior guard Faith Johnson had 11 points in the game.

Demps figuratively shot the lights out as she knocked down a 3-pointer off of an inbounds pass with 1 second left on the shot clock to put Lowndes up by 26 points with 5:38 remaining. The lights responsible for illuminating the playing floor flickered then went out completed moments later.

During the delay, neither team was allowed on the playing surface to stretch or warm up.

In the meantime, the Vikettes managed to stay loose by engaging in an impromptu singing and dancing session with the LHS cheerleaders from the bench. The players and cheerleaders belted out tunes ranging from Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby” to Fantasia’s “When I See U” and Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk”.

“I told them I wished we could stretch but they told us to stay off the floor,” Tookes said of the delay. “During that time, they were loose. They were loose the whole time. They wanted to finish it in the dark, but the Georgia High School Association wouldn’t allow it. We had to wait till the lights came on. Either it was gonna be called or wait on the lights, so thank God the lights came on.”

The Vikettes pumped their lead up late in the third as Johnson made a layup followed by a run out layup by Otaifo Esenabhalu off a steal and kick ahead pass from Demps. On the next possession, the ball found Kimora Wade for a score inside to give the Vikettes a 42-18 lead with 1:15 left in the third.

A 3-pointer by Westlake’s Nevaeh Lawson stopped the run with 52 seconds left in the quarter, but Lowndes took a 42-21 lead into the fourth.

Demps scored 13 of her 22 points across the second and third quarters. The Region 1-7A Defensive Player of the Year proved why she earned the honor by spearheading an aggressive Lowndes defense with relentless ball pressure and looking to pass the ball ahead off of defensive stops.

Offensively, the cat-quick 5-1 guard made several key plays whether it was by the pass or by getting to her spots and burying timely shots.

“Basically, she’s the heart and soul of our team,” Tookes said of the sophomore. “Where she goes, we go, and I’m talking about defensively. She’s not scared to go to the hole. She makes some big shots for us. She makes some good passes for us. She does it all. She’ll even take a charge if needed. She’ll do whatever it takes for us to win and those are the kind of players that you like to coach.”

UP NEXT

The Vikettes advance to the second round and a meeting with the Archer Tigers, who defeated Hillgrove 45-36 Tuesday night. Tipoff for this game is yet to be announced.