Lady Warriors earn second-consecutive state berth with win over Armuchee
Gordon Central advances in 7-AA tournament with dominant win over Lady Indians
The Gordon Central Lady Warriors continue their great season by clinched their second consecutive AA state playoff berth Tuesday night with a convincing win over the Armuchee Lady Indians, 55-33.
It was a tight game at the end of the first with Gordon Central clinging to an 8-4 lead, but after the sluggish start in the first quarter for the Lady Warriors, they were able to hit their stride and secure the victory.
The offense for the Lady Warriors put on a clinic from the second quarter on, outscoring Armuchee 19-9 in the second to open up the game.
Gordon Central led 27-13 at the half and never looked back.
Armuchee did close the gap to 9 points at the start of the third by going on a quick 7-2 run coming out of halftime, but that’s as close as it would get the rest of the way, as Gordon Central led 36-21 at the end of the third quarter.
The Armuchee Lady Indians (8-16) were led by Olivia Moses, who was the lone Lady Indian in double figures with 17.
For Gordon Central (13-8), they were led by 7-AA Region Player of the Year, Mercedes Coleman, who had 25 points. Cara Crump, who landed on the 7-AA First Team, was also in double figures with 13.
After the game, Head Coach Matt Swanson was excited for the second straight state birth.
“It kind of solidifies what we are doing here as a pro- gram,” Swanson said. “Last year, people may have thought it was a fluke, but here we are again, so we are proving we are building something. It starts with the three goals we have, and we met one tonight and hopefully we can meet the other one Friday night. This is just a great group of girls to coach.” He went on to speak about the keys to keep moving forward in not only the region tournament, but also the state tournament.
“Rebounding is the key for this team. We need to come up with every loose ball,” Swanson said. “I had to call timeout early in this game to let them know that we need to be better. We have to be aggressive on the boards, but it does help when you have the region player of the year on your team, as well.”
The Gordon Central Lady Warriors will continue their quest for the 7-AA Region Championship this Friday at 7 p.m. against the Rockmart Lady Yellow Jackets at Rockmart High School.