Norcross staves off Campbell in an up-and-down game to reach the state championship

By David Friedlander | Photo by Ed Turlington

BUFORD, Ga. — Teams exchanging big runs during important basketball games are commonplace on every level of the game.

However, the emotional swings and changes in momentum throughout Friday's Class 7A girls semifinals between Norcross and Campbell would have had many therapists seeking a therapist.

After spotting the No. 7 state-ranked Spartans a 12-point lead after one quarter, the fourth-ranked Blue Devils erased that deficit in a matter of minutes.

Then after building as much as a nine-point lead in the second half, Norcross saw its own lead disappear in the final three minutes.

DeNaeja Morton's clutch 3-pointer in the game's final minute took the lead back, and the Blue Devils had to survive two final chances from Campbell to survive for a 54-51 win at Buford City Arena.

Zaria Hurston was critical in helping Norcross (24-5) advance to the state championship game next weekend in Macon with game highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds.

She and and fellow seniors Morton and LiNiya Kenon all proved to be calming influences to prevent the Blue Devils from being run right out of the building by Campbell (20-11) in the early going.

“I think it was just getting our bearings on (Campbell),” Norcross coach Ashley Clanton said. “When you watch them on film, we told (the players) all week that we're going to try to put our finger on how (the Spartans) score. There's nothing flashy and nothing fancy (about them).

“So I think when we started the game, the kids were a little taken aback by how tough they were. It took us a little bit to kind of (adjust). It was like (the two teams were) feeling each other out, and (Campbell) did a better job of it there early. It took us a little longer.”

It took Norcross nearly 5 1/2 minutes just to score, and it looked like Kayla Lindsey's bucket at the 2:30 mark might be the team's only points of the first quarter after Campbell capitalized on the chaos caused by their press to take a 14-2 lead.

But Jania Akins ran the floor with the clock ticking down in the opening quarter and let fly with a running jumper from 3-point range on the right wing that hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded to cut the deficit to 14-5.

That may not sound like much of a difference, but it apparently did to the Blue Devils, who looked like a different team in the second quarter.

“Coach just said, 'The only way we'll get through that press is with confidence,'" Hurston said. "I feel like as the game went on, the jitters went out, and we were able to get our confidence and break the pressure and come back as the team I know we know how to play as.”

The 6-foot post was a major force attacking the rim and on the boards by scoring 10 points as the Blue Devils scored the first 17 points of the period, making their overall run 20-0 including Akins' buzzer beater in the first, to turn the game around and take a 22-14 lead.

Though that lead was trimmed to 27-21 by halftime, Norcross built it back to 43-34 by the end of the third quarter before Campbell responded with another run early in the fourth.

The Spartans scored the first six points of the final quarter to pull within three at 43-40 with 5:52 remaining.

And they kept on surging before Nia Bozeman tied the game with a pair of free throws with 2:51 left, and then Jaida Fitzgerald pulled Campbell even again at 51-51 with a jumper from the elbow with less than a minute to play.

But instead of trying to work the clock down to try to win the game on a buzzer-beater, Clanton had other plans for her team.

“We like to let our kids play,” Clanton said. “So we weren't going to call timeout to set something up. We preferred (Campbell) on (its) heels and our kids finding a little open spot.”

That open spot came to Morton, who was on the receiving end of a kick-out pass from Lindsey in the right corner for an open 3-pointer that she knocked down for a 54-51 lead with 40.1 seconds left.

But Norcross still had to survive one chance on Campbell's next possession, after Hurston pulled down a defensive rebound and drew a foul with 29.1 seconds left.

However, the reigning Region 7-7A Player of the Year missed the front end of the ensuing 1-and-1, giving the Spartans one last chance.

Bozeman's 3-point attempt bounced off the front iron, allowing Kenon to run down the rebound and pass to Cadence Peterson along the baseline to allow the clock to run out, sending the Blue Devils to their first championship game appearance since 2017.

They await the winner of Saturday's semifinal between No. 5 Harrison and ninth-ranked Archer.

Hurston was the only player in double figures for Norcross, but Akins contributed nine points and three assists before fouling out. Kenon added eight points and eight assists, Lindsey chipped in eight points and Morton contributed seven points and three steals.

Bozeman led Campbell with 17 points, while Laila Battle added 13 points for the Spartans, and Fitzgerald finished with eight points and five rebounds.