Chestatee girls wins Region 8-AAAA basketball championship

GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA - Down 30-21 at halftime and the Region 8-AAAA Championship on the line, the Chestatee girls basketball team had seemingly no answers for East Forsyth.

Then, Riley Black decided to be the answer.

With a 23-point second half, Black and her team were able to complete the comeback and hold on in the final minute for a 58-54 win in Friday’s Region Championship.For head coach Sutton Shirley, the moment was bigger than just winning a trophy.

“These kids work so hard,” Shirley said. “At Chestatee, we don’t have some of the advantages that some other places have, so these kids have to do it by working hard and outworking everybody else. This is an accomplishment for these girls, for this community, for the school because the support that they get when they’re working hard and the encouragement they get, it’s a special thing and they deserve it. That’s why I’m so happy, because the kids have worked hard enough to get this moment.”

At one point down 11 points, Chestatee was forced to bring that same hard-working effort to get back into the game in the second half. Black, who was named Region Player of the Year after the game, proved up for the task, leading the way for her team.

“She’s a really, really good player and she proved why she was Region player of the year tonight in the second half. She enjoys the moment. She wants us to jump on her back offensively and normally when we do, she does some really good things,” Sutton said. “She works her tail off all year round trying to be a better basketball player. She’s got some huge goals and that’s why she is where she’s at. She’s a great kid. She works really hard. She’s a great player and great players perform like that in big moments.”

The junior point guard not only performed, but took over the game, relentlessly driving to the hoop and single-handedly willing her team back into the game. By the final minute of the third quarter, she’d finally given her team its first lead of the game, hitting from close range at the buzzer to put Chestatee up 43-41. Black scored 14 in the quarter, outscoring the entire East Forsyth team, which had 11 points in the period.

However the fourth quarter would require more heroics from Black as East Forsyth quickly battled back, immediately taking the lead back with a five-point swing. After a three from Caroline Bull to tie the game at 48, Black hit a three to give the War Eagles the lead for good with around two minutes left to play.

In the final two minutes, Chestatee stretched its lead up to six before East Forsyth once again stormed back, drawing within one with 22 seconds left at 55-54. After fouling, a missed free throw with 17.7 seconds left gave East Forsyth an opportunity. 

But the Broncos weren’t able to convert and after a Chestatee rebound, were forced once again to send the War Eagles back to the line. After making the first shot, despite a suspenseful bounce off the rim that left the gym silent for the split seconds before rolling in, Chestatee missed the second, giving East Forsyth another glimpse of hope. However, just as she’d done with her scoring outburst in the second half, Black erased that last glimmer of hope, grabbing the rebound that would effectively seal the deal. 

The Broncos were forced to foul Black, who knocked down both free throws, giving Chestatee a four-point lead with just seconds left. One uncontested full court heave later, Sutton and his team were Region Champs and the Chestatee student section were storming the court. 

Sutton, who was awarded Region Coach of the Year after the game said the major halftime adjustment was on the defensive side of the ball.

“We had to get back to what we’re good at. Just get back to the basics,” he said. “We were trying to do some funky stuff to try and mess with the post and mess with some shooters and that kind of thing and at the end of the day, we had to say ‘nope, we’re going to sit down, play our base man-to-man defense and we’re going to go win this thing.’ They did a great job, probably the best half of a game all season at playing our man-to-man defense.”

Chestatee outscored the Broncos 22-11 in the third quarter which made all the difference in the game.

Sutton feels his team is playing their best basketball of the season at the right time, now heading into the state tournament as the No. 1 seed.

“I think these girls, right now, they’re very together,” he said. “These moments are special and they know that. They know that we have to take advantage of every opportunity that’s put in front of us. Winning a region title obviously gives you a one seed going into the state tournament, so we’re going to take advantage of that one seed hopefully and go as far as we possibly can.”

East Forsyth will represent the region as the No. 2 seed at state and also have the opportunity to host in the first round of the tournament. After being upset by East Forsyth on Thursday in the semifinals, North Hall took care of business against East Hall, claiming third place in the region and the No. 3 seed with a 45-40 victory. East Hall will enter the state tournament as the No. 4 seed.

As for Sutton, he’s hoping his team can take the momentum earned from winning the region tournament and turn it into success at the state level. 

“If these girls aren’t confident after that win then I don’t know what will make them confident,” he said. “And confidence is huge for high school athletes. I think we should be very confident and we’ll also have a level head and prepare for every opponent, take them seriously and give them our best shot.”