Larry Fleming
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON — DULUTH — Northwest Whitfield took a two-decade leap through time Friday, but the basketball gods had the same message for the Lady Bruins — not this year.
Playing in their first title game since 1990, the Lady Bruins were victimized by Southwest DeKalb’s powerful Lady Panthers, 65-45, in the girls Class 4A state championship game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
In 1990, Northwest lost to Hart County, 59-49, in the Class 3A state title game at Georgia Tech.
Southwest turned an anticipated barn-burner between two outstanding teams into a beat-down to capture its third consecutive state title under coach Kathy Richey-Walton, who has been at the school since 2002.
The Lady Panthers (27-4) jumped to a stunning 14-0 first-quarter lead and killed any chance Northwest had to claim its first state basketball championship. Kaya Lewis, a University of Florida signee, scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter and Southwest led, 25-10 after just eight minutes of play.
“We tried to battle back, but it was such a big deficit we just couldn’t do it,” Lady Bruins coach Margaret Stockburger said after a 20-minute session with her team in the locker room. “Southwest DeKalb was just the better team today, but we’re a good team too.”
Northwest, which was ranked No. 1 in the GaSports.com coaches poll at one time during the season and had won 28 of 29 games going into Friday’s title showdown, finished 29-4. The 29 victories is a school record.
