Pittman’s free throw sends Lady Tigers to Sweet 16

It was just short four years ago that the Ringgold Lady Tigers basketball program endured one of the worst seasons in school history.

Now, it all seems like ancient history.

Ringgold’s redemption continued on Saturday with a 53-52 win at Franklin County in a battle of state-ranked teams in the opening round of the Class AAA state tournament.

With the victory, Ringgold (22-6) will head into the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year.

In the only firstround matchup of top 10 teams in the entire bracket, No. 9 Ringgold stormed out to a 16-7 lead and took a 35-25 advantage into halftime.

But the No. 10 Lady Lions (20-7) absolutely refused to fold and sliced the Lady Tigers’ lead down to just three points entering the fourth quarter.

Franklin County would complete the comeback by tying the game at 52 with a minute left to play and Ringgold would hold the ball on its next possession, looking for a final shot.

But with 10 seconds showing on the clock, the Lady Tigers threw the ball away and a wild scramble for the loose ball ensued.

The ball would somehow end up in the hands of Ringgold freshman Sydney Pittman, who instinctively drove to the basket and drew a foul with 3.7 seconds to go.

Pittman defied her youthful nerves by knocking down the first shot of the oneand-one, although she misfired on her second shot. Franklin County would get off one final desperation shot from mid-court as time expired, but the shot hit off the side of the rim and fell harmlessly away as the Lady Tigers swarmed the court in celebration.

Infiniti Foster had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Kiwi Dale had eight points in the win and deflected 10 Franklin County passes. Karoline Sholl also had eight points and dished out six assists and Dare Schley had two steals to go with her eight points.

Rachel Thomas dropped in nine points and Pittman finished with five.

Ringgold will travel 300 miles to Reidsville on Wednesday (6 p.m.) to face unranked Tattnall County (16-12) in the second round. The Lady Warriors, the champions of Region 2, upended WestsideMacon, 53-30, in the first round.

Should the Lady Tigers win, they would travel to unranked Cook County or to Region 7 champ and No. 2-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian for the Elite Eight.