Lady Canes advance to the Final Four with a quarterfinal win at Harris County
February 27, 2024
It was another hard-fought road victory for the Lady Canes Tuesday night at Harris County launching the Cartersville girls to their first Final Four appearance since 2010.
The Lady Canes traded leads with the host Lady Tigers throughout the night, but it was Cartersville that came out on top following a frenzied fourth quarter, 47-46.
The Hurricanes led 8-4 in a sluggish first quarter. KK Arnold and Taff Bradley had two buckets each for Cartersville and Allana Coulter scored both baskets for the Lady Tigers.
The pace picked up in the second period.
JaNiya Broome, who led Harris County with 17 points, scored nine in the period and Brooke Bass added four. Cartersville stayed within three points at the intermission with Arnold, Ansley Griffin, Nayel Camper, and Senai Camper scoring two points each. Bradley scored five in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Cartersville regained the lead 38-36.
Griffin posted eight in the period including a pair of threes. Senai Camper made a three-pointer and had five points in the quarter. Three-pointers by Bryanna Jordan and Cauley plus six points by Coulter kept the Lady Tigers close.
With the score tied at 38-all, Arnold’s drive to the basket and subsequent layup gave Cartersville a 40-38 lead with 5:15 remaining.
Harris County regained the lead on their next possession with a bucket and a free throw. A Lady Canes’ turnover resulted in another Lady Tigers score and a 43-40 Harris County lead with 4:12 to play.
Bradley scored in the post on the Lady Canes’ next two possessions and Cartersville held a 44-43 advantage with 3:15 left in the game.
Following two more stops by Cartersville, another Bradley power move underneath gave the Lady Canes a 46-43 lead with 2:31 remaining and coach Karisma Boykin used a timeout.
Harris County cut the lead to 46-45 on their ensuing possession and Cartersville went right back the Bradley in the post. She was fouled and made one of two free throws for a 47-45 Canes’ lead.
With 1:16 left in the game, Broome went to the charity stripe for Harris County and made one of two free throws narrowing Cartersville’s lead to 47-46.
Following a Bradley miss on the next trip, Griffin made a timely steal and the Canes called timeout to set up the final stretch.
Coming out of the timeout, Arnold missed on a drive to the basket but made a steal following the Harris County rebound, and again the Canes — up by one — used a timeout with 0:33 remaining.
The frenetic pace continued with a Cartersville turnover on the throw-in, but Arnold was able to force a held ball with 0:15 to play. The possession arrow favored Harris County giving the Tigers an opportunity for a go-ahead basket in the final seconds.
Broome was forced to pass off her dribble to Bass in the waning seconds. She missed a last-second shot attempt and it appeared Bradley had the rebound to secure the Cartersville victory. Unfortunately, however, Bradley was whistled for a foul with 0.4 seconds left in the game.
The foul sent Harris County to the free throw line with a chance to win or tie, but the Lady Tigers’ shooter missed both attempts and the Lady Canes escaped with another thrilling tournament win.
In addition to Broome’s 17 points (8 of her team’s 10 in the fourth quarter), Coulter scored 14 for Harris County. Bass contributed seven. Cauley scored five and Bryanna Jordan added three for the Lady Tigers (25-4).
Bradley scored a game-high 18 points for Cartersville including seven of the Lady Canes’ nine points in the final period. Ansley Griffin followed with 10 points. KK Arnold tossed in eight. Senai Camper and Nayel Camper added seven and four points, respectively.
Bradley added nine rebounds and three steals. Griffin had a pair of boards and one assist. Arnold contributed seven assists and three steals, and Senai Camper added eight assists with five rebounds.
Cartersville (18-12) will play 2nd-ranked Jackson-Atlanta in the Final Four on Friday afternoon at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton. Jackson knocked off top-ranked Union Grove 80-55 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The other Class 5A girls' state semifinal will be Dalton against Midtown — also at UWG — at 5 p.m. on Friday. Dalton beat Arabia Mountain 71-52 and Midtown topped Jones County, 58-37.
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