Pelham girls rout Telfair County, capture state title

ATHENS, Ga. — Pelham High School girls basketball coach Antonia Tookes finally cracked a smile — just a small one.

With 19.9 seconds left, the Lady Hornets coach emptied her bench to a rousing applause from the horde of supporters who made the trip.

When Taniyah Johson heaved a pass to Monica Webb to burn the final seconds, a mad dash erupted on the court.

At long last, Pelham captured its long-awaited state championship, routing top-seeded Telfair County 60-42 Wednesday afternoon in the Georgia High School Association Class A public school state championship game at Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum.

It was the school’s first state basketball title since 1997.

Tookes gave senior guard Destiny Thomas a bear-hug, then grabbed Mahogany Brown in the closing seconds, two seniors who helped the Lady Hornets basketball program finish in the state quarterfinals twice and the semifinals two years ago.

Then the celebration began.

“I was thinking, ‘Thank God,’ I give him all the praise and the glory,” Tookes said, fighting back tears. “From the players, to the superintendent, everybody involved. I told them winning the state championship tonight was not only for the 2017 class, but for every girl who has ever put on a Lady Hornet jersey under me.

“So they were to play for all their sisters. That’s just how important this win is.”

Pelham (30-1) rolled to its 18th straight victory and Telfair provided nothing more than a speed bump. After digging themselves in an 8-5 deficit in the early minutes, the Lady Hornets exploded on a 15-0 run to build a 20-8 advantage after the opening quarter. Their lead never fell below double-figures again.

Mahogany Randall sank the Lady Hornets’ first basket, a trey from the left wing, then her second trey gave them the lead. She added one more 3-point basket in the first quarter.

She finished with a team-high 18 points and she was 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

“We had to go out there from the start and get them,” Randall said. “Then we couldn’t let up.”

Pelham led 34-20 at halftime, then put the game on cruise control in the third quarter.

By the fourth quarter, fans began to celebrate in the stands.

“It seemed like a lifetime,” Willeshia Kemp said of the fourth quarter when the Lady Hornets tried to burn the final minutes off the clock. “But it’s a wonderful feeling.”

As usual, Tookes’ trademark defense set up scoring opportunities. Telfair County (26-3) shot just 23 percent (17 of 73) from the floor, lost 16 turnovers and were outrebounded 61-53.

Kemp finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, Aaliyah Williams scored six points and Thomas, who led the team in scoring in Pelham’s semifinal victory over Wheeler County last week, scored five. She finished with 10 rebounds.

“We get the question all the time about who is the best player,” Thomas said. “Like we always say, ’ pick one,’ because you never know who’s going to show up.”

After Tookes cracked a smile during the closing seconds, her players captured the moment.

“That’s just coach Tookes,” Thomas said. “She always tells us that she wants perfection. She knows that we can’t get it, so she is going to fuss the whole game.”

But Tookes and the Lady Hornets left the court — for the last time this year — smiling.