Heritage girls' season ends with two-point loss

RINGGOLD, Ga. - In a month, maybe, or six months from now, this will seem like a successful season for the Lady Generals.

But it didn't feel that way Wednesday night.

Heritage lost 46-44 to Arabia Mountain in the opening round of the Georgia Class AAAA basketball playoffs.

"I thought we had a good chance against those people," Lady Generals coach Eddie Bryant said. "This game puts a damper on the season. A month from now we can look back and say we had a good season. This hurts."

The Lady Generals (22-9) trailed by eight points with 4 minutes, 20 seconds to go in the game. They clawed back to within two points and had the ball for the final 6.9 seconds. But they didn't get off a potential tying or winning shot in the final seconds.

Emily Wiley led Heritage with 16 points, Sydney Smith scored 15 and Shayla Ludy scored 10, leaving three for the rest of the team. Iyanla Kitchens led the Lady Rams (19-10) with 12 points.

"We missed a lot of easy looks, and it was a number of things like taking bad shots," Bryant said. "When you play a comparable team and make a lot of mistakes, it's going to cost you."

The Lady Generals led 16-14 after the first period but trailed 25-19 at halftime. They closed the third quarter with a 5-0 spurt to pull within 34-30 heading into the final period.

A 3-pointer by Wiley and a putback by Smith pulled Heritage within 44-41 with 1:13 to go. The Lady Rams missed six of eight free throws in the final minute, giving the Lady Generals two chances to tie or go ahead. The first time, a 3-pointer rimmed out. The next time, they lost the ball in the paint.

"Shot after shot didn't go in," Bryant said. "We couldn't get over the hump. We were fighting from behind the whole night."

"We're the first team in any sport (at the school) to get out of the first round of the playoffs," Arabia Mountain coach Yolonda Redmond said. "They were knocking down 3s late and we had enough cushion. I don't think we held them at bay. We ran enough time off the clock."

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP

Upcoming Events