Carter three, Burgess steal power Lady Devils in overtime
Published 11:00 pm Tuesday, February 22, 2022
- Lady Devils celebrate defeating North Paulding.
TIFTON – Two plays in under 10 seconds changed a basketball game Tuesday night. Two plays, a three-pointer and a steal, are the main reasons that Tift County’s Lady Devils move on to the sweet 16 of the state Class 7A tournament.
Tift defeated North Paulding in overtime Tuesday, 49-41. They will have to wait until Wednesday to learn if they will play Roswell or Norcross in the next round. If Norcross wins, the Lady Devils will travel.
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The score was 37-37 entering overtime before North Paulding’s Janaya Evans landed the front end of a one-and-one at 2:42.
Tift claimed the rebound and bolted up the floor, with Shakiria Chaney tossing a pass to a wide open Tamyra Carter. From by her bench, Carter’s aim was true and the Lady Devils went ahead 40-38. Before fans had a chance to reflect on their good fortune, however, they had even more of it. Caitlyn Burgess stole the inbounds pass and leaned in for an easy layup at 2:24.
“That was a huge, huge shot,” said head coach Julie Conner of Carter’s three. “I’m proud. So proud of the girls for fighting the whole game. They never gave up.”
In only a few seconds, the locals had gone from trailing to in command.
“Changed everything,” she said.
They took advantage of it.
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After the Lady Wolfpack were unable to trim the lead, Tift pulled the ball out and made the visitors come to them. Soon enough, there was a foul.
The Lady Devils missed their one-and-one, but Chaney boxed out the entire left side of the free throw lane and put the ball back in the basket.
More possessions went against North Paulding and Burgess pushed the lead to 46-38 with 31 ticks left.
Sophia Gallimore finally shook away her team’s cobwebs with a three to make it 46-41, but time wasn’t on their side and free throws were on Tift’s. Burgess buried two more at the stripe, then another with 12 seconds left to close out the game.
Overtime was a long way away from the first quarter, a time where Tift fans might have thought this was going to be a breeze.
O’ashia Cushion scored the first five points. With Faith Hillmon and Jakembre Beckhom scoring underneath and Mya Cushion hitting from deep, it was a 12-1 contest over the initial five minutes.
The lead, 14-4, at the quarter, built to 20-4 a minute into the second when the Lady Devils passed around the horn before finding Burgess behind the arc.
Unfortunately, that seemed to stir the Lady Pack into action. They scored the next seven points to close to 23-11. O’ashia Cushion made a three to stop that streak, but North Paulding was moving again.
Gallimore made a three and when Sanaa Thompson rung a free throw with six seconds left in the half, the once-big lead had dwindled to 23-19.
Tift started the second half hot, a 7-3 run featuring four points from Mya Cushion for an eight-point lead.
North Paulding roared back. Kaden McCorvey hit a pair of baskets and Aliyah Washington showed her mettle as the Lady Pack’s top scorer. Thompson drove in late in the third for two points and it was all tied at 33 going into the fourth.
“[North Paulding] made a lot of great runs,” said Conner.
Jayda Jackson and Washington scored in the first 4:30 of the fourth. It was only a basket each, but they were the only points of the quarter so far. North Paulding led 37-33.
But then one of North Paulding’s risks turned against them.
Washington had picked up her third foul in the first half and sat the last four minutes. Her fourth foul came at 6:50 in the fourth quarter. She stayed on the floor and, at 3:14, Washington picked up her fifth foul.
Chaney made two free throws for a 37-35 score.
With 22 seconds left and that same score, North Paulding missed a one-and-one. Tift could not get an initial shot to fall on their end, but Chaney came to the rescue with a putback with 12 seconds left.
A North Paulding shot missed at the buzzer to necessitate the extra session.
“Even though we’ll have to travel (to Norcross should they win as expected), we won on our home court,” said Conner. They were upset last year in the first round in Tifton.
O’ashia Cushion had her best game of the season Tuesday, scoring 11 to lead the Lady Devils’ offense. Burgess added 10 points, with Chaney and Mya Cushion each at 8 points.
Gallimore and Thompson were North Paulding’s scoring leaders at 9 points each. Evans added 8 and Washington scored 7.