Veterans girls No. 1 first time as Perry sought 2nd upset

If there was any chip on the collective shoulder of Veterans High girls basketball about not being seeded No. 1 for the Region 2-AAAA, it was long forgotten when the Lady Warhawks stood in their home gym Friday with the program’s first championship trophy.

Against the surprise finalists – and county rival – from Perry High, Veterans had four players score in double figures during the 60-39 win that puts the Lady Warhawks in position to host multiple playoff games in addition to the Tuesday contest with Bainbridge.

“Very blessed to have this group of girls,” said head coach Nicole Miranda. “I give thanks to God for keeping them healthy this year.”

Though Veterans and Mary Persons finished in a first-place tie and split their meetings, the one tiebreaker that worked against the Lady Warhawks was non-region games against AAAA competition. Being seeded No. 2, Veterans had to play on Feb. 9 in order to qualify for state, but Miranda’s team proceeded to beat Upson-Lee and West Laurens to reach the finals.

Miranda said she sent out messages to her players in an attempt to loosen them up, saying things like it would be more fun to play than practice on that Monday and how they could make more money drawing a home crowd that day.

“In the end, I said everything happens for a reason; God has a plan,” she said. “You guys stay together.

“It’s been our goal since the beginning to win the region. This is my group of seniors. I’ve had them for four years, whether they played JV or varsity. This is the first one in our history, boys or girls, so it’s truly exciting.”

It was Perry’s Lady Panthers on Feb. 12 keeping Mary Persons from the finals, adding that win to the first-round triumph that put the girls program in state play for the first time in more than a decade. They played Westover of Albany on Tuesday (not part of a Wednesday doubleheader with the Perry boys).

Perry started out on fire with the semifinal star, Kirondria Smith, sinking her first 3 try and senior Aaliyah Cheatham scoring from a steal and using a pick to assist Alexis Ervin.

But the Lady Panthers didn’t get another field goal in the quarter when Anna Nicholson of Veterans tied the game on the 3. She sunk one more as her team was on the move. That was part of a 9-0 run for a lead of 13-7.

Cheatham was still involved in the flow of the offense to draw fouls, and free throws got Perry within three at 15-12. Veterans’ Morgan Riley then grabbed an offensive board and found Nicholson for her third trey.

Down 20-12 at 1:30, the Lady Panthers missed two inside shots. In the final minute, both Endia Martin and Tatyana Owens stole the ball, but with no points Perry trailed by nine going into the second quarter.

Veterans stretched an overall run to 14 in a row, all production in the new period from Miranda’s bench. Carrington Kee scored two baskets while Jocelyn Taylor converted a nice feed down low. Tiana Hughes found guard Ambria Cornelius cutting in the lane for 29-12.

Cheatham finished the first half with 14 points; her 3 got Perry on the board at 4:25. But the Lady Panthers had five turnovers, and Lady Warhawk Khayla Owens was there to clean up the takeaway points. Perry was also 5-for-10 in foul shooting during the second and went into the half down 37-20.

The opportunity was there, however, for the Lady Panthers to make a serious push. It wasn’t until 1:59 of the third quarter that the Lady Warhawks scored from the floor. All they had to show for in scoring was four foul shots, but Perry’s shooting woes would not let it capitalize. Owens in fact had the period’s first floor make on a put-back at 5:46, the score becoming 38-26.

It stayed that way for more than two game minutes with no more second shots coming for Perry. The Lady Panthers again cut the margin to 12, 40-28, on Cheatham’s assist to Ervin against the press. Kee would get VHS’ only basket when Kya Cochran rebounded her own 3 miss and passed the ball off.

Smith’s 3-pointer came at 1:04 and Owens made a clutch steal, but it stayed a 12-point game, 45-33, with the fourth still to play.

Miranda looked to defense as the core of Veterans’ issues from the start, stating they are much better going man than zone. She said they were flat while playing the zone.

“I knew their guards were their strength and they were going to try to penetrate,” she said. “It seemed like (going zone) was the smart thing to do. We quickly switched to man and got going.”

Seeing how Perry was getting to the foul line, she said it again seemed more sensible to play zone while up 17.

“Once again, we got lulled,” said Miranda. “They slowed the ball down. I was afraid they would hit a couple of shots here and there.”

Cheatham put back 2 to open the fourth, but that would be the only basket for the Lady Panthers. Veterans’ first two possessions were productive thanks to Kee and Hughes, who had two early with an outlet coming from Cornelius. Ebony Allen fought hard to get one more Veterans putback.

Nicholson’s 15-point first-half outburst stood as the team’s high total. Owens did a double double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Hughes finished with 12 and Kee 11.

Cheatham led all scorers with 19.

“The past two years we’ve had to travel,” said Miranda about her program’s previous state experience. “Two years ago we lost in overtime. Last year, we lost in double overtime. We’ve been here since February started, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage. These girls are enjoying this run, making history as we go.”

THE UPSET

Sometimes in a basketball tournament, there’s an off day between games. Perry’s Lady Panthers and coach Reggie West used that time – two days actually – between the first-round victory against Baldwin High and tip off of the semifinal with top seeded Mary Persons to formulate the strategy that led to the 62-55 upset.

“Our game plan was defensively whenever (KeKe) Calloway or (Tyehsa) Davis got the ball, we wanted to be in their face,” said West. “We didn’t want to give them any open shots. So we put in our defense on (Feb. 11), and it worked to perfection for three and a half quarters on Calloway. We were able to hold Davis to six points for the entire game, so it worked for four quarters on her.

“It was a whole defensive team effort in stopping them.”

In the two regular season meetings, Mary Persons won by margins of 24 and 31 and eclipsed 70 on both occasions. The Lady Bulldogs had a mere two on the board when the semifinal first period ended.

“They settled for a lot of jump shots,” said West. “Those jump shots were not falling. In the fourth quarter, Calloway realized she was going to have to dribble drive. That caused some issues, but by that time we built such a massive lead and were able to hold on to the end.”

Perry led by 14 at halftime and was up by 20 going into that fourth, when MP scored 23. That was countered by 10 from the Lady Panthers, who got 39 in all from Kirondria Smith.

“She had a quiet 39,” said West. “I didn’t know she had that many, but she really stepped it up and put the team on her back from an offensive standpoint.”

There’s an online video of Smith sinking a halfcourt shot by the scorer’s table to end the first quarter. West said that kind of break hasn’t happened to Perry all season, but sensed then that victory was coming.

“We’re excited for the community,” said West about the guarantee for one state playoff game that win assured. “And we’re excited for the fans to have an opportunity to see this team play at home. It cuts down on that travel.”

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