LaFayette girls’ upset bid falls short against St. Pius

The LaFayette Lady Ramblers waited 75 years to finally make the GHSA state playoffs and nearly made up for lost time in their very first postseason game.

Facing Region 8 champion St. Pius X in Atlanta on Feb. 14, fourth-seeded

LaFayette found itself in a tie ballgame at halftime and were down by just two late in the fourth quarter. However, the Golden Lions would score the final three points to escape the upset, 63-58, in the first round of the Class AAAA tournament.

St. Pius’ lead stood at just 60-58 after LaTyah Barber’s free throws with 1:35 to play. However, the Golden Lions would move the ball around and finally get free for an inside bucket with 47 seconds left to boost their lead to four.

The Lady Ramblers would miss with 35 seconds left and were forced to foul, but St. Pius would miss the front end of the one-and-one. They also missed a second-chance bucket after grabbing an offensive rebound as LaFayette regained possession. But the Lady Ramblers came up short on another shot, this time with 24 seconds to go, and they would once again send St. Pius to the line.

But once again, the Golden Lions missed the front end with 12.5 ticks remaining and LaFayette pulled down the rebound and drew a foul of its own with 7.4 seconds left. However, LaFayette’s first free throw attempt rimmed out and St. Pius pulled down the all-important rebound. They would make one final free throw in the waning seconds to close out the victory.

Mykeria Johnson had 27 points for the Lady Ramblers, followed by 15 from Barber, who added six rebounds and four assists. Marquila Howell scored nine points and grabbed seven boards. Nicky Yancy had four points and three rebounds. Heather Tucker added two points and three rebounds, while Imani Cook scored one point, pulled down five rebounds and collected three assists and three steals.