Prep roundup: Semifinals up next for Christian Heritage girls

Christian Heritage’s girls basketball team has accomplished plenty in its five seasons of Georgia Independent School Association competition, but the ultimate goal has remained elusive for the Lady Lions.

Step by step, they’re working toward one last shot at that big prize — a state title — before next year’s transition to the Georgia High School Association.

Senior guard Maggie Peeples had a game-high 21 points as the Lady Lions topped Fullington Academy 65-54 in the quarterfinals of the GISA Class 2A state tournament Friday afternoon at Middle Georgia College in Cochran. With the win, they reached the state semifinals for the second straight year and the third time in the past five seasons.

Lowery said she addressed the past accomplishments, as well as what remains, when talking to her team after Friday’s victory.

“In our five years in GISA, we’ve got three region championships, two region runner-ups, two final fours — now three — and one (appearance in the state title game),” Lowery said. “The one thing we’re missing is a state championship. I hope that’s a good motivator to place before them.

“This team gets up for things, so I think it was good for them to hear that and visualize that and see what they’re capable of doing. They’re capable of winning the whole thing, they’ve just got to take it a step at a time.”

Christian Heritage (23-5), which lost in the 2A semifinals last season to eventual champion Terrell Academy, reached the state title game in 2008 and lost 74-61 to Trinity Christian. Peeples, who played varsity as eighth-grader, is the only remaining starter from that team.

The Lady Lions, the No. 1 seed from Region 4, will take on either Gatwood or Citizens Christian at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville for the right to play for the championship.

“I think it’s going to be a lot better, the fact that we’ve got four of the starters from last year back into this type of situation and they know what to expect,” Lowery said. “They know what the atmosphere’s like. And it’s not just the four starters, but several others who are returning (from last year’s team). I think that’s important.”

The Lady Lions led at the end of each quarter against Fullington — they were ahead 19-9 after the first, 39-25 at halftime and 52-38 going into the fourth — and held off their opponents’ only major charge.

“We were up about 24 in the first half, then they went on about a 10-0 run to cut it to 14 within the last two minutes of the half,” Lowery said. “I think we got a little settled in. It wasn’t our best game, but we dug our heels in and just played really hard.”

In addition to Peeples, two other player scored in double figures for Christian Heritage — Caroline Tarpley had 18 points, and Rebecca Leonard had 11 points and seven assists — while Ann Marie Massengale just missed a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds and scoring nine points.

Fullington was led by Brittany Bailey, who had 18 points.

While pleased to be headed back to the semifinals, Lowery said she knows there’s work to be done next week for the Lady Lions, including shoring up their efforts from the foul line. Christian Heritage went 7-for-16 on free throws on Friday.

“I think it will be good to get the weekend and get our legs back under us on the floor Monday,” Lowery said. “We’ll have four good practices here before we head down.”

Christian Heritage’s boys, who are seeded fourth but upset top-seeded Piedmont Academy 50-30 in Thursday’s first round, take on Region 2 No. 2 seed Curtis Baptist at 5:30 p.m. today at Middle Georgia College.

Curtis Baptist beat Brookwood 50-36 in the first round to reach today’s quarterfinals.

Soccer

• North Cobb Christian boys 8, Morris Innovative 4: Gustavo Celis recorded a hat trick, but the Tigers came up short in their season opener, which was also the debut of varsity sports for the third-year school.

Carlos Guerrero added the other goal and Josue Rivas had a pair of assist for Morris, which trailed 4-0 at halftime in the road match.

The Tigers were without their starting goalkeeper because of illness, said Morris coach Ernie Dempsey, who was encouraged by the offensive output, especially after halftime.

“Scoring the four goals is huge, because this team is pretty good,” Dempsey said. “We’ve just got to get the defense set and the goalies set and get them going. If we had our starting keeper in there, it would have made a difference.”

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