DeKalb County’s hold on the Class AAAAA girl basketball championship trophy will continue for another year.
Daisa Alexander scored 19 points and Southwest DeKalb escaped with a 49-48 victory over Winder-Barrow in the state final Friday at the Macon Coliseum, giving the county its 10th championship in 11 years in the second-highest classification. Only Fayette County in 2011 interrupted the county’s run.
The championship was the fifth in nine years for top-ranked Southwest DeKalb (27-6).
The loss ended a magical postseason run for unranked Winder-Barrow (26-7), which came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed from Region 8-AAAAA but upset Region 5 champion Villa Rica and ranked teams Carver-Columbus, Mays and Brunswick. The Bulldoggs, who have never won a state title, were making their first appearance in the state tournament since 1994.
Winder-Barrow had one last chance to win the game, taking possession with 5.9 seconds remaining after a lane violation on a Southwest DeKalb free throw, but the Bulldoggs threw the ball away on a pass up the court and never got off a shot.
Southwest DeKalb had to overcome a cold shooting night in which it made just 26.4 percent of its field-goal attempts, although the impact was lessened by the fact that it took 30 more shots than the Bulldoggs (72 to 42).
Ultimately, turnovers were Winder-Barrow’s downfall. The Bulldoggs turned the ball over 27 times, leading to 21 Southwest DeKalb points. That was the difference in a game neither team led by more than seven points. Southwest DeKalb had just nine turnovers that led to nine Winder-Barrow points.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa did her best to keep Winder-Barrow in the game throughout. She finished with 13 points and 19 rebounds and scored the Bulldoggs’ first six points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with 3:38 remaining that tied the game 41-41.
Southwest DeKalb’s Cori Bostic answered with two free throws less than a minute later for a 45-43 lead, and the Panthers never trailed again.
Alexander scored 13 first-half points, although she also struggled from the field. The senior guard, who averaged 22 points in five playoff games, was 8-for-29 on field goals. Raven Thurman added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers.
Winder-Barrow (48): Mayweather 10, Maddox 7, Nelson-Ododa 13, Perkins 11, Sullivan 1, Watson 6.
Southwest DeKalb (49): Cherry 2, Walton 6, Alexander 19, Uwusiaba 1, Bostic 8, Sanders, Edwards, Thurman 13, Bennefield.
