Back-to-Back State Champions!
Back-To-Back! The Lady Crusaders of Robert Toombs Christian Academy have won their second straight GIAA State Championship as they defeated the Lady Dragons of St. George’s Episcopal School in the State Championship at Columbus State University last Friday. RTCA defeated the #1 team in the state, Fullington Academy, in the Final 4 to reach the Championship, then won a tough game over the Dragons, who beat Citizens Christian in their Final 4 matchup.
Final 4
The Lady Crusaders played a great game against Fullington, who came into the game as the #1 team in the state with a record of 24-4. The game was held at Brewton-Parker College.
The game was tied early at 2-2 after a basket by Kailen Brantley, and then Kylie Acosta and Meredith Durden put RTCA up 6-2. With three minutes to go in the first, Fullington came back and tied the game at 6-6, but a three-pointer by Amelia Mercer put RTCA up 9-6. Brantley made it 11-8 with 1:15 on the clock. And that was the score at the end of the first as neither team could get a shot to fall in the final minute.
Early in the second, Fullington tied the game with a three, but Mercer answered to put RTCA back up, 14-11. Durden extended the lead to 16-11, and Brantley made it 18-13 with 4:50 left in the first half. Fullington added another three-pointer, but Durden was clutch at the free throw line, hitting four in a row to push the lead back out to 24-16.
Mary Frances Stanley got a shot to fall with 1:05 on the clock, but the lead had been cut to 24-22. RTCA added one more free throw to take a 25-22 lead into halftime over the #1 team in the state.
There was not much offense between these two teams in the third period of the game. The score was tied at 27-27, and then RTCA took a 29-27 lead with just 26 seconds left to play in the period. At the end of the third, the score was 29-28 with RTCA out in front.
Things were very different in the fourth as both teams started to get their continued from page
shots to fall. Fullington came back to take the lead at 30-29, but Durden hit a shot to put RTCA back on top, 31-30. RTCA was up 37-34, but with 1:30 left in the game, they were up 39-37.
RTCA pushed their lead to 42-37 with one minute left in the game. Fullington closed the lead to four points, but there were just 17 seconds left to play. Mercer added a pair of free throws, and RTCA held on to win the game, 44-39.
Brantley led the way for RTCA with 16 points, with Mercer and Durden each scoring 10 points in the win.
Championship
RTCA faced off with the Lady Dragons of St. George’s for the State Championship on Friday. Both teams struggled to get shots to fall, but the Dragons had a very tough time, especially in the first half. That worked out well for RTCA as they took advantage and built up a lead. RTCA extended the lead in the third and then had to hold on in the fourth to take the win.
RTCA got on the board first with a basket and a free throw from Mercer. With 5:20 left in the first, Durden added to the lead to make it 5-0, with nerves affecting both schools. Mercer hit a three for an 8-0 lead, and then Braylin Pittman hit a free throw for a 9-0 lead. Stanley drove in for a basket and an 11-0 lead with just 20 seconds left in the first period.
The Dragons finally got their first points of the game with just 9 seconds left in the first to make it 11-2. They added a free throw to close it to 11-3, and that was the score at the end of the first period.
In the second, Brantley hit a three to push the lead to 14-3, but they answered with 6:20 on the clock to make it 14-6. It was 14-8 before a threepointer by Brantley gave RTCA a 17-8 lead with 5:15 left in the half. RTCA was up by 10, 18-8, after a free throw from Pittman, but they closed it to 18-12 with just 2:20 left in the half.
Brantley made it 2012, and Mercer hit a three with just 10 seconds left to give RTCA a 23-14 lead. That was the score at the end of the first half, 23- 14.
In the third quarter, Durden got a couple of shots to fall to increase the lead to 27-15 with 6:18 left in the third. Brantley hit a jumper in the lane for a 29-17 lead, and she added another for a 31-17 lead with 3:20 on the clock. Mercer added a three-pointer just before the buzzer to give RTCA a 34-17 lead, heading to the fourth.
In the fourth, RTCA let their emotions take over a bit as the Dragons started to close in. RTCA led 36-21 with just over five minutes to play, but the Dragons had closed it to 36-26 with 3:50 left in the game. With 2:45 left the Dragons had closed the lead to 36-30.
With 1:10 on the clock RTCA led 36-31, but Mercer made it 38-31 with a pair of free throws, and Brantley added one for a 39-31 lead. The Dragons hit a three to close the lead to 39-34 with just 40 seconds remaining, but Mercer hit two more free throws to give the Crusaders a 4134 lead with just 21 seconds left, all but sealing the win.
RTCA held on to win the game, 41-34, to win the second Championship in a row.
RTCA was led by Mercer with 16 points, Brantley added 12, and Durden scored 8 in the win.
RTCA Head Coach Jake Wilkinson said, “We have had our highs and lows this season, and I don’t think anyone expected us to take it all, but we tried to play like we could every game. We did a good job of executing our plays, it did get a little hectic down the stretch, but the girls came through. I am just proud of the girls and how they handled themselves, and it is awesome to take this back-to-back.”
Amelia Mercer led the Lady Crusaders with 16 points on the way to the State Title.Photo by Mike Branch
