Gordon Lee and Northwest Whitfield came up short in bids to win their first GHSA volleyball championships Saturday while facing Atlanta private school powers at Lakepoint Sports Complex in Cartersville.
The Lady Trojans rallied from two sets down to force a deciding fifth set before falling 15-8 to Pace Academy in the Class AA/A final. Northwest, which had won two matches on the road to reach the title round, was swept by Marist in Class AAAA.
Pace (22-7) won the first two sets by identical 25-18 scores, but Gordon Lee (37-12) won set three by the same score before winning a thrilling fourth set 25-23. The final set was tied at six before Pace, which had won three consecutive Class AAA titles before dropping down this year, took control.
"In the first two sets, we tried to play perfect and just didn't get comfortable," Gordon Lee coach Adam Crowley said. "We started playing our game in the third set and settled in, and Ashlyn Boyd also came in and provided the spark we needed.
"It was a great match, and I really hated it for our girls. I would have loved to see the outcome if we would have settled in a little sooner. I still believe we are the better team. We are the best public team in AA/A, but it's frustrating that a private school won that trophy."
Brooklyn Hudson led Gordon Lee with 23 kills, 18 digs and three blocks, getting her 1,000th career kill in the match. Arilyn Lee had 10 kills and 11 digs, Emoree Rogers 23 assists and 12 digs, Annie McDaniel 19 digs (reaching 1,000 for her career) and Mary Katherine Roberts 17 digs.
Crowley said Hudson and Roberts earned first-team all-state honors and that McDaniel and Sam Cramer received honorable mention.
Northwest (35-12) lost by scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-15 as Marist (20-8) won its ninth GHSA title.
Emma Allen keyed the Lady Bruins' attack with seven kills, 10 assists and three blocks, with Emma Hayes adding seven kills and 15 digs, Kiara Hughes 13 assists, Whitley Chumley 16 digs, Lexie Douhne four kills and two blocks and Kiersten Maynard three aces.
"Marist is such an amazing defensive team, so scoring was tough," Northwest coach Kelsey Ikerd said. "I'm super proud of our effort and the history we've made in this state playoff run, but I'm even more proud of the togetherness and relationship the girls had this season. It truly was an honor to coach them."
Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / Ringgold's Kori Dumas, left, ran for three touchdowns in the Tigers' 55-14 win against Coahulla Creek on Saturday, giving him 21 this season.FOOTBALL
Ringgold 55, Coahulla Creek 14: Kori Dumas ran for three touchdowns - giving him 21 for the season - as the Tigers (5-3, 4-2 Region 6-AAA) solidified their playoff chances. Dumas scored while covering 4, 5 and 49 yards, and sophomore quarterback Mason Parker added touchdown runs of 25 and 5 yards and Malachi Hill started the scoring with a 25-yard run. Ringgold can clinch a postseason berth with a win at Sonoraville on Friday.
Pickens 27, Ridgeland 18: Collin Kellogg threw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half to lead the Dragons (3-4, 1-1 Region 7-AAA) to the victory. Jeremiah Turner had touchdown runs of 5 and 40 yards to give Ridgeland (1-7, 1-2) an 18-14 lead entering the final quarter, but Kellogg hit Mykel Hand on a fourth-down touchdown pass to take a 20-18 lead and the Dragons followed by recovering an onside kick. Kadyn Hampton made the gamble pay off with a 20-yard touchdown run, and Pickens sealed the win on Conor Browning's interception.
Fannin County 37, Chattooga 7: Lashaun Lester scored the Indians' touchdown on a 48-yard run to get Chattooga (3-5, 2-2 Region 7-AA) within seven early in the second quarter, but the Rebels (7-0, 4-0) used a touchdown pass from Luke Holloway and two rushing scores from Seth Reece to pull away.
CROSS COUNTRY
Coahulla Creek earned or matched the highest individual places among local runners and Heritage had a top-15 finisher in both boys' and girls' competition during the GHSA cross country state meets Friday and Saturday in Carrollton.
Coahulla Creek senior Lane Hollis was fifth in the Class 3A boys' race, finishing the 5k (3.1-mile) route in 16 minutes, 46.42 seconds, to help the Colts to a ninth-place team finish. Devin Edwards (18:27.16) was 40th for Coahulla Creek, with Harris Gallegley (18:31) two places behind his teammate.
Hollis had the best time of any local runner by nearly a minute.
For the Lady Colts, junior Kaylee Bandy (20:47.79) was ninth to help her team place 12th. Among local runners, matching Bandy's place finish was Dade County's Anna Ballard (21:32.65), who was ninth in Class AA.
In AAAA, Heritage junior Gavin Chandler (18:05.70) and senior Allison Craft (21.29.91) each placed 14th. The Generals finished 10th in the team standings, and the Lady Generals were 12th.
"This was the best individual performance for the boys since 2015 and 2014 for the girls," Heritage coach Mike Craft wrote in an email to the Times Free Press. "Allison raced hard and passed two members of Marist's state championship team on the big hill and was close to catching two more girls. Gavin was very focused and had a great race as well."
Calhoun's Felipe Barrios (17:44.53) was 36th in AAAAA, and Gordon Central's Joey Kowalzcewski (18:15.47) took 19th in AA, where Dade County's boys finished 11th in the team standings.
Other strong boys' times included Southeast Whitfield's Angel Garcia (18:42.11, 28th) and Noah Aguilar (19:03.50, 42nd), as well as Northwest Whitfield's Gavin Ollis (19:00.16, 38th) in AAAA, and Sonoraville's Nahum Trenti (19:02.56, 58th) in AAA.
In the AAAA girls' race, Southeast's Guadalupe Martinez (23:23.17) was 35th and teammate Marlene Paez (23:46.08) took 44th, two spots ahead of Northwest's Lexi Lyon (23:54.79).
In Class A public, Trion finished 10th in both team standings, with Dawson Brown (18:44.68) placing 11th in the boys' race. In the girls' race, Gordon Lee's Haley Hartman (24:14.04) was 11th.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22. Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.