Deerfield-Windsor girls drop close game in overtime

ALBANY — The Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights were without one of their key players Tuesday night but still managed to keep it close at home against Georgia Christian. Deerfield forced overtime before falling to the Lady Generals 51-50 at Gruhl Court.

The Lady Knights outmatched Georgia Christian, the defending GISA Class AA state champions, early in the game and led until the end of the third quarter.

A slow second quarter ramped up with under one minute left when Deerfield scored six straight points off steals. They had a nine-point lead until the Lady Generals scored five points just before the half expired to make the score 30-26 at the break. Hannah Mills scored eight points in the second quarter, half of the Lady Knights’ total output in the frame.

Mills was playing in place of Jamia Lofton, who suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s game against Fredrica.

“Anytime you lose a point guard it is hard,” Deerfield-Windsor girls coach Jeff Eubanks said. “She is young, but she was our point guard.”

Deerfield saw the lead evaporate in the second half after an 8-0 run by Georgia Christian to end the third gave the Lady Generals a 38-37 lead.

The fourth quarter was back-and-forth until the teams were knotted at 44 with under a minute remaining.

Deerfield had multiple opportunities to take the lead, but an errant pass followed by an inadvertent step out of bounds gave Georgia Christian the ball back.

“As young as we are, mixed in with the older girls, I thought we should have won the ballgame twice before overtime,” Eubanks said. “Then in overtime, I thought we had two opportunities. Give Georgia Christian credit, they are the defending champions.”

The Lady Generals went up 46-44 when Heidi Jones hit two free throws with 11 seconds remaining.

With two second left, Alondra Calhoun pulled down an offensive rebound, went back up and hit a lay up as time expired to tie the game at 46 and send it into overtime.

In overtime, the Lady Knights hit the first basket to take the lead which held until Breanna Priest went to the line with 4.7 seconds left and hit back-to-back free throws.

Deerfield had a chance to win the game as time expired but its last-second shot was off the mark.

Mills led the way for Deerfield with 14 points.

Georgia Christian’s Haley Garrett led the game in scoring with 16. Priest added 11 for the Lady Generals.The loss makes the Deerfield-Windsor girls 3-3 this season.

Deerfield-Windsor boys 66, Georgia Christian 41

After scoring just 23 points in the first half, the Knights exploded for 23 points in the third quarter on their way to a 43-point second half.

Deerfield hit six threes in the final two quarters after going 1-for-14 from long range in the first half.

“We couldn’t stick in the ocean,” Deerfield-Windsor coach Gordy Gruhl said. “When you’ve got good shooters, soon or later they are going to start dropping. We got some guys that can shoot the ball, but we just couldn’t stick it in the bucket the first half.”

Deerfield’s Trey Young was the leading scorer with 13 points. Ethan Shellhaas added 12, while Chandler Matthews finished with 10.

Colson Guthrie finished with 11 points for the Generals.

The win makes the Knights 4-0.