GHSA REGION 1-A GIRLS TOURNAMENT: Calhoun girls reach state tourney after squeaker vs. Mitchell in 1-A opener

CUTHBERT — Santana Ingram jumped up and did a little skip.

And that doesn’t begin to tell you how good she felt when the news hit her that Calhoun County’s girls basketball team had just qualified for the state playoffs.

“I’m excited. In all my years in high school, we have never gone to state,” said Ingram, a senior, moments after Calhoun hung on to beat Mitchell County, 49-46, on Wednesday at Randolph-Clay in the Region 1-A tournament. The win sends Calhoun to Friday’s semifinals against Herald No. 5 Pelham, the No. 1 team in the south sub-region. The top four teams qualify for next week’s state tournament.

Mitchell County (9-12) had beaten Calhoun, 48-41, in the regular season and was the No. 3 team from the south. But after advancing to the Elite 8 a year ago, the Lady Eagles go home early — though not until they stormed back with a furious finish. Calhoun led, 22-20, at halftime, but Mitchell went ice-cold in the third, going 1-for-17 from the field, and the Lady Cougars took advantage to build a 37-24 lead early in the fourth, before Mitchell came back.

Ke’Ondra Mango, who finished the game with four 3s and 19 points, made three 3-pointers in the last 1:30 of the game to make it dramatic. Her final 3 hit the bottom of the net with 17 seconds to make it a 49-46 game, and when Calhoun’s Kelsey Anderson missed two free throws with 13 seconds left Mitchell had a final chance. But Mango’s 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left skipped off the rim twice before bouncing away to end it.

“I was worried,” said Ingram, who finished with 15 points, including 13 in the second half. “They kept coming back on us.”

Calhoun (8-10) could have put the game away, but the Lady Cougars made only 11 of 30 free throws, which was maddening for coach Cornelius Walker.

“Free throws, free throws,” Walker lamented. “Free throws are a killer. If we would have made our free throws, it wouldn’t have even been close. At the end of the game, I’m just thinking make a free throw, just make a free throw.”

Gabby Christopher listened.

Christopher, who finished with 15 points for Calhoun, made 3-of-4 free throws in the final minutes to help keep the lead at 43-37, and her put-back with 1:50 left gave Calhoun a 45-37 lead. Then Mango starting bombing away to make it close.

“It’s a big deal for us to (qualify) for the state tournament,” Walker said. “This is my second year and it’s a real big deal to get to the state tournament.”