The No. 4 (Rockdale) and No. 5 (Alcovy) seeds in 2-AAAAAA met at Newton High School Wednesday in a fight for the playoffs. A win and Alcovy would have finished as a top-four seed and made the state tournament, but Rockdale had other plans. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Tigers 69-57, ending the Lady Tigers’s chances at a top four seed and a trip to the playoffs.
Despite the slow start offensively for both teams, the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early 6-2 lead midway through the opening quarter.
Second-chance points stymied Alcovy on defense as the Lady Tigers struggled to keep Rockdale off the boards, giving Rockdale a 10-4 lead. A triple by Tamia Brown answered a 3 from Rockdale’s Jonai Jackson and the Lady Bulldogs carried a 13-7 lead into the second period.
Tierra Hodges got the Lady Tigers within four with an assist to Quantasia Perry and a basket inside the paint, forcing a Rockdale timeout. Rockdale came out of the timeout and went on a 9-1 run.
When Hodges wasn't creating on offense, Alcovy struggled to knock down shots with the Lady Bulldogs’ defense honing in on Hodges and forcing other players to beat them.
Rockdale held a 24-15 lead at the half. Hodges was held to just five points in the first half.
Alcovy was able to cut the lead to six coming out of the break but Rockdale tightened up on defense and reeled off a 14-3 run to make it 41-27 with 2:05 left in the third.
It was all but over heading into the fourth quarter with the Lady Tigers trailing 44-27, but the Lady Tigers didn't get the message.
Fighting for their playoff lives, two triples by Nydica Tate cut Rockdale’s lead to 12 and then the Lady Tigers forced a turnover, breathing life back into the game.
Rockdale would get the ball back and score, but Alcovy was able to make a run after another 3-pointer by Tate, who hit five 3s in the fourth, and a Rockdale turnover that turned into two points for Quantasia Perry with Alcovy trailing 52-43.
A Hodges and-one made it 57-49 with 2:05 remaining. Alcovy started fouling down the stretch, but Rockdale went 10-10 at the line in the final quarter, while Alcovy’s offense sputtered.
Alcovy just couldn’t overcome the deficit. For every Alcovy run, Rockdale countered with a run of its own.
Region 2-AAAAAA Player of the Year, Hodges finished the game with 14 points while Tate finished the game with 23 points on seven three-pointers, tying Rockdale’s leading scorer Diamond Swift with 23 points.
“I give them credit because both their [Jonai Jackson] and [Diamond Swift] really stepped up for them. That was our focal point on defense, but they knocked down big shots. Big time,” Alcovy Coach Kevin Furtado, said. “They really got a lot better and they did a nice job on Tierra. We did have one of our players, Nydica Tate, step up. We’ve been waiting for that for a long time. To me, we didn’t get stops on defense. They were knocking down shots, making free throws. I give them credit, they made some big threes on us, big time threes. We were trying to get some stops, but not good enough.”
“I give them credit, man. They made the plays at the end. The problem is you can’t go tit for tat you gotta get some stops. We were making shots, but we weren’t getting any stops,” Furtado added.
“It’s kind of a shame, you want Tierra to kind of continue on. She’s had a great career. I’m really hurt about that, but she’s done a great job, been a foundation of our program.”
