11:02 p.m. Friday, March 12, 2010
Norcross coach Angie Hembree told the fans in the student section after Friday nights Class AAAAA girls championship game that anybody in her class was going to get an A.
The teacher was in a giving mood after her basketball pupils turned in an A-plus effort and knocked off defending champion Redan 76-63 at Gwinnett Arena. The victory gave Norcross (28-4) its first state championship in girls basketball. It also gave Redan (31-1) its first loss since the 2008 final, ending the Raiders 58-game winning streak.
Norcross blew open what had been a tight game throughout with a 16-1 run that began late in the third quarter and extended three minutes into the fourth. The Blue Devils put it away by going 17-of-21 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
It was a gritty game, it really was, a gritty blood-and-gut game,Hembree said. We knew it was going to be, and I'm just so proud of my kids I don't know what to do. They hung in there, diving for the ball, great rebounding, clutch free-throw shooting. I'm just so proud of them and how they toughed it out because we were behind for three quarters. It came down to the fourth quarter, and we said, If I told you you had to work your behind off for eight minutes, and you were only down two, to win the state title, what would you do? And they went and they did it.
Senior Judean Hanks got a rare start, and she made the most of it, scoring a season-high 17 points. None was bigger than the 3-pointer she made with 6:25 to play in the game to put Norcross ahead 52-50, its first lead since the first quarter. She made another 3-pointer later in the quarter and went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:24.
She's come up big for us this whole tournament, Hembree said.
Redan cut into an eight-point lead and trailed 66-62 with 1:24 to play when the Raiders came apart. Two technical fouls and two personal fouls in a 10-second span led to eight Norcross free throws, of which it made seven to increase the lead to 73-62. Norcross finished the game 32-for-39 from the line.
We knew that Redan was going to go on runs, Hembree said. They're a great, super defensive team, and I said we're going to have to withstand those runs. ... One mistake can't become two, two can't be three. They got on a little run and we called timeout and said we've got to keep our composure. I think my kids did a great job of doing that.
Norcross freshmen Kaela Davis and Diamond DeShields again turned in strong performances. Davis led the Blue Devils with 21 points, including 13 in the first half as Norcross struggled to stay close. DeShields had 17 points and made nine free throws in the second half.
Redan junior Kierra Paige led all scorers with 22 points, and senior Alisha Andrews had 21.
They played hard and left it all out on the court,Redan coach Jerry Jackson told a group of reporters. That's all you can ask for as a coach.
Norcross (76) Jordan 15, Hanks 17, Davis 21, DeMercy 4, DeShields 17, O'Neal 2, Cobb.
Redan (63) Andrews 21, Dalrymple 0, Paige 22, Evans 5, Daniels 4, Clark 4, Mason 6, Walker 1.
Halftime: Redan 35, Norcross 30.
