Syrupmaids fall in title game
Published 5:43 pm Wednesday, March 10, 2021
- Cairo's Ambria Vicks goes up against Carver-Columbus' Enyshaun Jones.
MACON — Though the two teams hadn’t met in nearly a year, they knew what to expect from each other.
But even the familiarity with Carver-Columbus’ constant press and trap couldn’t help the Cairo Syrupmaids on Wednesday.
The Lady Tigers forced the Syrupmaids into a spate of turnovers and grabbed the lead for good, holding for a 70-54 win Wednesday afternoon in the GHSA Class AAAA girls state basketball championship game.
The title was the second in the last three seasons for Carver-Columbus, a former region foe for Cairo.
“We kept fighting,” said Cairo coach Melissa McClendon. “We didn’t quit. And that’s what Cairo is about. That’s our motto. We fought to the very end. My kids worked their butts off. I can’t say enough about them. I love them.
“They know the gravity of what we’ve done. We wanted to come out with that W. We’re proud to be runners-up this year. We’ll take it. We just didn’t prevail today.”
The Syrupmaids and Lady Tigers were in a breakneck first quarter pace, with nine lead changes. Jy’niah Cooper’s steal of an inbounds pass and reverse layup capped an 8-2 run and gave Cairo its biggest lead of the game at 23-18. The Syrupmaids consistently found open teammates against the Lady Tigers’ trap.
But after Ambria Vicks’ spin move for a follow-up bucket made it 27-23, the Lady Tigers went on a run of forcing turnovers on seven consecutive possessions.
Kionna Gaines, a Clemson signee, ended a 16-0 spurt with a steal and drive. She scored the final seven points of that run.
“She’s an ACC player and she played like one today,” Carver coach Anson Hundley said. “She stepped up big for us. It was a team effort, but she definitely led the way.”
Carver-Columbus’ defense began to take effect as the Lady Tigers anticipated Cairo passes out of the trap and turned that thinking into steals and turnovers.
Carver opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run and seemingly took control with a 50-32 lead.
Cairo, however, rallied back into the game with 11 unanswered points and had the ball to try to get even closer. Another turnover ended that possession, and Carver closed the quarter on a 7-2 run.
Cairo got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
“Cairo is a very good team, a very well-coached team,” Hundley said. “They are a lot better than they were in previous years when we played them. So we knew we had to come prepared and we knew we had to be ready for them. The girls really stuck to the game plan and that’s what got us over. We’re going to press, we’re going to trap the ball. That’s what we live by and they did a good job in the second half of making that happen.”
Gaines had 24 points and nine rebounds to pace Carver. D’Miya Beacham had 16 points and Enyshuan Jones scored 10.
Carver forced 31 turnovers, turning those into 35 points, and was 25-of-34 from the free throw line.
Ambria Vicks had 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Syrupmaids, who finished 18-2. Leah Perry had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Chambria Vicks scored nine points before fouling out.
Cooper had six points, Christy James added four and Ta’Kyah Bradshaw and Chassitti Butler each had two points.
Cairo out rebounded Carver-Columbus 46-33
Wednesday’s state championship game was the last high school game for nine senior Syrupmaids.
“I can’t wait to see what they do at the next level,” McClendon said. “We just have to get ready to go at it next year.”
