Sports

Alpharetta Falls to Mill Creek in Girls State Basketball Playoffs

The Raiders held a 4-point lead late in the game, but lost it and couldn't recover in a rough game.

Failed free throws and a bunch of three pointers by the Hawks ended the Lady Raiders' state playoff run Tuesday night, but even with that kept the game close against . The final was 51-49.

Alpharetta hosted Mill Creek in the Sweet Sixteen of the state girls basketball playoffs. They defeated Cherokee on Feb. 24 to advance past the first round, while Mill Creek beat Brookwood to set up this contest on Feb. 28.

With 18.2 seconds left in the game, Mill Creek's 5-point lead seemed out of reach, with the score 50-45. However, the Raiders made four unanswered points in 14 seconds, cutting the lead to one. Almost a second was burned as the Raiders had to foul, sending the Hawks to the line yet again. A free throw made it a two-point game at 51-49 with less than 3 seconds left.

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Even then the Raiders didn't give up, trying to work the ball upcourt quickly for that final shot. But the length of the court proved too much, as the final desperation shot came after the buzzer already sounded. Even if it hadn't, it fell short of the basket.

Alpharetta's Kylee Smith and Mill Creek's Nadiya Miller were the leadig scorers, with 16 points each. But how they scored those points showed how different the teams' offensive styles were. Both girls sank five field goals, but all of Smith's were two-pointers, while Miller had only one two-pointer, with four treys.

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Smith was sent to the line more than any other player in the game, shooting 13 free throws. She made 6, putting her just under 50 percent. Miller shot 50 percent at the free throw line, making 2 of 4 shots.

The Lady Raiders were sent to the line 30 times and sank half of those free throws.

The Hawks were sent to the line 25 times–15 of those chances in the fourth period–but sank only 10 of those shots. The Hawks were given the chance to put the game away many times in the fourth period, with a lot of those fouls coming with less than a minute left to play.

The Raiders had trailed against the Hawks for most of the first two periods, but kept it fairly close, ending the half with the Hawks leading by two, 28-26.

In the second half, the Raiders managed to control the offensive boards and took the lead with less than 30 seconds left in the third period. The Raiders led by 4 points, 43-39, with 4:20 to go in the game. But a free throw and a three-pointer by the Hawks closed it to one, 45-44. And with barely a minute and a half to go, the Hawks took a lead they held for the rest of the game.

Scoring Summaries:

Alpharetta Raiders Name 2s FTA FTM Points Kylee Smith 5 13 6 16 Lauren Brown 4 8 7 15 Alexis Alexander 4 4 2 10 Delaney Hollenbeck 3 3 0 6 Teja Finley 1 - - 2 Mill Creek Hawks Name
2s
3s
FTA
FTM
Points Nadiya Miller 1 4 4 2 16 Tamarr Williams - 3 2 1 10 Jasmine Carter 3 - 10 6 12 India Dillard 3 - 1 0 6 Sierra Menzies 3 - 3 1 7


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