Deerfield-Windsor and Terrell Academy girls get ready for GIAA Final Four

Two Albany-area girl’s basketball teams are still fighting in the GIAA state basketball tournament, which moves to Milledgeville and Georgia College and State University this week. The Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights (23-5) and the Terrell Academy Lady Eagles (20-5) both advanced to the final four and will play on Wednesday.

Deerfield-Windsor will take on John Milledge (19-4) who beat Westminster 59-47 in Macon on Friday. The Lady Knights and John Milledge have played twice – John Milledge won at home and Deerfield-Windsor won at home.

The Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights advanced with a 58-24 win over Frederica Academy Friday night in Macon. The Lady Knight defense shut down Frederica after the game was competitive early and DWS took the big win. The senior three did the most damage for the Lady Knights – Joi Hubbard scored 21 while Murphy Ray and Gabrielle Harris each put in 14. Junior Hampton Rushton added eight points.

“All of the girls are doing really well right now,” said Deerfield-Windsor head coach Gina Mitchell.”They are very excited about getting back to the Final Four and potentially having an opportunity to play in another state championship game! “

We have gotten off to a slow start at the beginning of the last couple of games and we know that we can’t do that on Wednesday,” Mitchell continued. “John Milledge is a very talented team and we are going to have to be focused and ready to play. Our defense has been the difference so far and will be a key factor in winning the next game! We will be relying heavily on our three seniors Joi Hubbard, Gabby Harris, and Murphy Ray.”

The Terrell Academy Lady Eagles will have a tall task in facing No. 1-ranked Lakeview Academy (25-1) of Gainesville. Terrell Academy advanced to the final four with a 53-46 win over Heritage Academy of Newnan. Lakeview blasted Brookwood 76-43 to advance.

The Lady Eagles used a balanced scoring attack to beat Heritage Friday night. Sally Masters led the Lady Eagles with 13 points, Mackenzie Cooper and Jenna DeBary scored 12 each, Annalea Massey put in seven, Liza West dumped in six and Hadley Webb added three.

“It’s important to peak at tournament time and our team is doing just that,” said Terrell Academy head coach Eric Israel. “We are playing our best basketball right now. This team has been extremely fun to coach and we’ve had great senior leadership from Liza West and Mackenzie Cooper. Those two have set the standard for where our program is and where we are striving to get to.”

We also couldn’t have the success we’ve had this year without our assistant coach, Todd Davis,” Israel added. “He deserves a lot of credit for the year we’ve had. It’s been amazing to watch how much better the girls have gotten since we started practice in October. They are very coachable and do everything we ask of them. We are excited for the opportunity to play in the final 4, but we aren’t just satisfied with getting there.”

“Lakeview has a great team,” said Israel/ “They don’t have any weak spots. We will watch film, put together a game plan, and prepare for them like we have for all of our opponents this year. Our team is really excited about the challenge and we can’t wait until Wednesday.”

Deerfield-Windsor will play Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Georgia College, and Terrel Academy will follow at 6 p.m.

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]