Lady Generals rally past GPS

The Heritage Lady Generals, down by 10 points with under two minutes to go in the third quarter, put on a stirring comeback to beat GPS of Chattanooga, 48-45, in the opening game of the Best of Preps Tournament at Chattanooga State last Thursday morning.

Heritage scored just five points in the opening quarter and trailed 26-15 at halftime. They were down 3222 with less than two minutes to play in the third period when comeback began.

Ansley Bice hit two 3-pointers, added a steal and a lay-up and forced another traveling call, while Nicole Fine banked in a three at the buzzer to cut the gap to 34-33 starting the fourth quarter.

The Bruisers would push the lead back out to seven points with four minutes remaining when Heritage made its

final charge.

Emily Wiley scored five straight points and Bice would hit another three to cut the lead to two with 3:09 remaining. A slash to the bucket by Wiley made it a one-point game with less than two minutes to play and, following a missed shot by GPS, Fine delivered a great pass on the baseline to Haley Phillips, who hit a clutch 3-pointer from the wing with 1:21 remaining to finally give the Lady Generals the lead at 46-45.

Following a steal by Bice, GPS was forced to foul with 20 seconds remaining and Wiley calmly hit both ends of a one-and-one with 15.7 seconds to play to put Heritage up three. GPS would miss a final 3-point attempt at the buzzer as the Lady Generals completed the improbable rally.

Wiley finished with a game-high 20 points, while Bice drained three 3-pointers and dropped in 18.

Meigs County 68, Heritage 47

The Lady Generals saw their three-game winning streak snapped as the Lady Tigers from Decatur used a huge fourth quarter to pull away in a semifinal game on Friday.

Heritage trailed by just two points with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but foul trouble and the Meigs County press combined to help the Lady Tigers blow the game open as the Navyand-Red scored just seven points in the final eight minutes.

Wiley had 19 points. Bice finished with 13, while Fine added seven points.

Rhea County 60, Heritage 45

In the girls’ fifthplace game on Saturday, the Lady Generals fell behind by eight after the first period and never recovered in a loss to the Golden Eagles.

Wiley and Bice had 11 points apiece. Sarah Bandy had nine points and Phillips added six. Bice and Bandy hit three 3-pointers, while Phillips added two.

Heritage (8-6) will get back to Region 6-AAAA play on Friday with a pair of games at Ridgeland.