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  • (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen) Northwest Whitfield's Caleb Branson pulls up at the free-throw line to put up a shot over Southeast Whitfield’s Chaz Payne during the Bruins’ win Tuesday night.

    sehs v nwhs boys bball2.jpg

  • (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen) Southeast Whitfield senior forward Megan Collins is mobbed by her teammates after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play in Tuesday night’s game against visiting Northwest Whitfield. The Lady Raiders won 53-52 to improve to 4-0 in Sub-region 7B-4A play.

    sehs v nwhs girls bball1.jpg

  • (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen) Southeast Whitfield's Megan Collins drives to the basket against Northwest Whitfield’s Kaitlin Wade.

    sehs v nwhs girls bball4.jpg

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January 16, 2013

Collins’ shot keeps Southeast Whitfield perfect in sub-region

Chris Whitfield chriswhitfield@daltoncitizen.com

CHATSWORTH — In a game of momentum swings, scoring runs and back-and-forth action, a player accustomed to pressure delivered when her team needed her the most.

Southeast Whitfield senior forward Megan Collins nailed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining and the host Lady Raiders erased a six-point fourth quarter deficit to win 53-52 and beat rival Northwest Whitfield for the first time in more than a decade.

“It is just unbelievable for this to be my senior year and to finally get a win over them,” said Collins, whose 21-footer from the baseline put the finishing touches on a 32-point performance. “We’ve just been working really hard at practice and working together as a team, and that has been the difference this year.”

With 7.6 seconds left, Southeast coach Mike Durham called timeout and set up the game-winning play. Guard Sydney Covington sliced through the Northwest defense and penetrated to the lane. When the collapse came, Covington sent the ball out to Collins, who drew nothing but net for the win.

The Lady Bruins were able to inbound off the basket, but the desperation heave from half court came up short. Southeast coaches said it is the school’s first win over the Lady Bruins since 1999.

“The fans got their money’s worth tonight,” said Durham, who in his first season has turned around a team that won just one game last year. “We talked about what we wanted to do in the timeout, and if Sydney had the shot in the paint she was going to try to tie it up, and if not she was supposed to kick it out — and Megan just hit a great shot.”

Southeast (11-5), which moved to 4-0 in Sub-region 7B-4A play, will play at Dalton on Friday night with the top spot in the sub-region standings on the line — both teams will enter the game undefeated in the sub-region. Northwest (11-7) falls to 2-2 in the sub-region after back-to-back losses to Dalton and the Lady Raiders.

It was a classic ending to a game in which the second half became almost nothing but a case study in runs. Up 25-22 at the end of the first half, the Lady Bruins started the third quarter with a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 12 points. But Southeast responded and closed the third quarter with a 15-0 run in which Collins scored eight points in almost every way possible — press breaker, follow-up shots, perimeter jumper — as the Lady Raiders took a 39-34 lead going into the final period.

However, the Lady Bruins answered with 3-pointers from Autumn Blackwell, Kaitlyn Wade and Alice Ann Barber plus a pair of Barber free throws for an 11-0 run to start the fourth as they took a 45-39 lead.

Collins wasn’t done, though, and the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest over the final 3:40. Collins hit 9 of 10 free throws as Southeast finished at 88 percent from the foul line in the game. Northwest made just 48 percent of its free throws.

“The last possession isn’t what beat us,” Northwest coach Greg Brown said. “Megan hit a clutch shot, but that isn’t what cost us the game. We didn’t hit free throws, and we just didn’t finish and they did.”

Blackwell led Northwest with 16 points, while Wade finished with 12.

• Northwest boys 79, Southeast 29: The Bruins remained undefeated in the sub-region, leading 46-18 at the half and coasting to the win.

Tanner Quarles led all scorers with 12 points on four 3-pointers in the first half for Northwest (14-3, 4-0). O’Shea Hill added 11 points, and Tanner Bailey had 10 for the Bruins, whose starters exited midway through the fourth.

Freshman Cyrus Addison scored eight points in the fourth quarter as all 15 Bruins on the roster played and 13 scored. Southeast (3-14, 2-2) was led by Chaz Payne’s nine points.

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