Caitlyn Burgess slams on the brakes in the 2nd period and keeps possession of a loose ball.

TIFTON — River Ridge denied Tift County its first final four since 1992 Tuesday night, eliminating the Lady Devils from the Class 6A state tournament, 64-49.

Tift had a 28-27 halftime lead on the defending state champions, but had already been dealt a big blow.

Jimmya Cushion, who entered the game with 988 career points, suffered a leg injury rolling into the padded barrier under the goal on a made basket with 1:45 remaining in the 1st half. Though Cushion was able to walk off under her own power, she spent the rest of the night with an icepack on her leg.

Head coach Julie Conner-Johnson was hoping after the game the injury was not a major one.

Cushion had four points at the time of her injury, but her loss meant much, much more on both ends of the floor. Without her presence, River Ridge could move around more freely on offense and could key in more efficiently on Caitlyn Burgess and Jalaya Miller, the Lady Devils’ other two main scorers for the season.

Height was the other big detriment to the home team.

Faith Hillmon was Tift’s tallest, but was towered by three Lady Knights. Conner-Johnson swapped an array of Lady Devils to try to match up inside, but was unable to keep up with the offensive rebounding prowess of Allie Sweet.

Sweet finished at 24 points, 13 coming in the 3rd quarter that took River Ridge from trailing to an insurmountable lead.

River Ridge began the 3rd period on a 10-1 run, four baskets coming inside from Sweet. The loss of Cushion meant one of Tift’s steadiest ball-handlers was unavailable and the Lady Devils had multiple turnovers during the run.

When Miller finally got their first field goal of the 4th, Tift trailed 37-31. They were soon in a deeper hole. Sweet had back-to-back field goals, the latter an old-fashioned three-point play. When Sophia Pearl drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key at 1:46, the Lady Knights had opened it up to 49-33.

The 16-point lead was the most of the night for River Ridge, coupled with a pair of free throws by Finley Parker in the 4th to make it 57-41. Tift whittled it down slight to 51-39 at quarter’s end.

Though down, the Lady Devils kept battling.

Jalaiah Rainey provided a big spark off the bench with eight points, including two shots from behind the arc. Makayla Bryant scored on a steal in the 4th and Miller had a massive block before netting the final points of the night.

The game started off as a track meet, end-to-end action by both teams.

River Ridge won the opening tip, but Bryant made a quick interception. Burgess provided the first points. The Lady Knights got off to a quick 10-5 lead, but Cushion assisted Bryant and Burgess hit a big triple to knot the score at 10.

A Burgess put-back soon had Tift up 13-10, but Pearl stepped back for a three 15 seconds later.

Tift’s biggest lead came in the 1st, 17-13 on a Miller jumper with 23 seconds left. The Lady Devils were 17-15 and the conclusion of the frame. Sweet hit three in a row for River Ridge in the 2nd for a 21-19 lead. Two baskets by Burgess made for a 23-23 tie. When Cushion was injured the score was squared again, 25-25.

River Ridge moves on to meet Marist Saturday at West Georgia. The other final four game is Veterans versus North Forsyth.

Burgess scored 15 to lead Tift, all in the 1st half. Miller came through with 11 points and Rainey finished at 8.

Besides Sweet’s 24, the Lady Knights got 12 points each from Makayla Roberson and Pearl.

The Palace was filled to capacity, with fans having to stand around the upper deck railings. The crowd gave the Lady Devils a standing ovation as the contest ended.