The Murray County girls’ basketball program will make its first appearance in a state championship game since 1966 after holding off a pair of rallies to defeat Morgan County 71-66 in a GHSA Class AA semifinal Friday at Georgia Southwestern State University.
Freshman point guard Blaklee Ledford led the winners with 21 points and five assists in Americus, with Bayleigh Winkler adding 17 points and eight rebounds while Callan Ledford scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
The top-seeded Lady Indians (30-1) will face No. 3 seed Hardaway (25-6), a 65-45 winner over No. 2 Josey in the second semifinal, at 1 p.m. next Thursday at the Macon Centreplex. They’ll be trying to add a second GHSA state championship to the program’s 1965 Class AA title. Hardaway is seeking its first.
“It’s just special,” said coach Chris Tipton, who has led Murray County to three consecutive deep runs in the state playoffs. “We’ve told them that if you put in the work, it pays off, and it did today. You have to weather storms, and it always won’t be perfect. Today was a great example.”
The Lady Indians led after Callan Ledford’s 3-pointer made it 3-2 and never trailed again, building their advantage to a high of 17 points on Bayleigh Winkler’s short jumper to start the second half. The Lady Dogs (21-10), though, got a combined 19 points from Cydney Burke and Jaden Young during a 21-8 run that cut Murray County’s lead to four with two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Lady Indians responded with an 8-0 run to close the period on a three-point play from Winkler and five points from Callan Ledford, including the team’s only 3-pointer of the second half.
Severe foul trouble caught up with Murray County, though, as Emma Blaylock, Winkler and Blaklee Ledford each picked up her fourth foul in the first three minutes of the final period. Burke took advantage, driving with little resistance for five quick points to cap an 11-3 run that brought Morgan County within 60-56 with less than four minutes left.
“We had to back off defensively a bit, and they got close,” Tipton said. “It was bad for a bit, and we were also our own worst enemy offensively at times because we panicked. Thank goodness we blew it open a bit in the first half, or we are going home.”
The Lady Indians, with their starters back on the court, again responded, with Blaklee Ledford scoring on a spinning drive and Winkler adding a free throw for a 63-56 lead with 2:09 remaining. Hadley Dotson then stripped Burke, who fouled out trying to get the ball back. Dotson made the two ensuing free throws, and with Blaklee Ledford hitting four free throws down the stretch, Morgan County never had a shot to tie it.
Young finished with a game-high 31 points, with Burke getting 14 despite being scoreless in the first half and Kymora Smith adding 12.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.