Late 3-pointer by Ohio State commit Diana Collins lifts Brookwood girls to a title

COVINGTON, GEORGIA – Ohio State signee Diana Collins only connected on two three-pointers for Brookwood Friday night in their Region 4-AAAAAAA championship game against Archer.

Both times they gave the Broncos the lead.

It was the only two leads the Broncos had the entire game against the Tigers. The first came late in the third quarter and the second came midway through the fourth. Collins’ fourth-quarter three-pointer gave the Broncos the lead and ultimately the win, 63-60, to claim their third straight region title.

Collins fished with a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds and was instrumental in helping lead the come-from-behind win over the Tigers, who led the game for the first 24 minutes.

“Perseverance,” Brookwood head coach Courtney Mincy said. “I told my girls today that I was proud of them for everything that has been thrown at us this year. We don’t quit. They’re learning to come together as a team. We know Archer is a very talented team and we didn’t take that lightly. I’m proud of them for fighting and making key plays under pressure when they were coming at us.”

It was a struggle early on for Collins, who was held to just eight points in the first half on 3 of 9 shooting. Jade Weathersby’s first-half performance was anything but a struggle. The UAB commit poured in 14 points in the first half and finished the game with 18.

Weathersby’s strong first half kept the Broncos in the game and that helped set up Collins’ heroics in the closing minutes to help seal the victory.

Senior Ciera Hall, junior Kate Phelan and freshman Justyce McCoy also gave the Broncos big minutes in the third and fourth quarters.

“We have good senior leadership,” Mincy said. “Diana did a good job of stepping up and being a leader. Being positive to her teammates. Ciera knocked down a good three-pointer at a good time to give us some momentum. We’re just really excited.”

Archer never trailed in the first half.

After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, they led 14-11 heading into the second quarter. Six different Tigers scored in the opening period while only Weathersby (9 points) and Collins (2 points) were the only two players to score in the first quarter for the Broncos.

The Tigers continued to lead midway through the second quarter. The closest the Broncos got was two points after a pair of Weathersby free throws.

But in what would become a common theme for the game, the Tigers wasted little time stretching their lead back out, this time to nine points.

Samiya Wayne scored four points during that stretch and Taniya McGowan later gave the Tigers a 31-22 lead after a putback layup with 1:36 left in the second quarter.

After starting the game 1 of 6 from the field, Collins knocked down a jump shot and then scored on an easy fastbreak layup to trim Archer’s lead to five.

Heading into halftime, Archer continued to lead 35-30.

“That was definitely huge,” Mincy said of Weathersby’s first-half performance. “Just having that senior leadership. Her stepping up, keeping the team together and being smart under pressure was something that we’ve been talking about all season long. She definitely stepped up in that area.”

For much of the third quarter, every Brookwood basket was answered back by the Tigers.

Their lead grew to seven points, 44-37 after a runner from Bryant, but it was then that the Broncos were finally able to muster up a big enough run to grab a lead.

McCoy nailed a three-pointer off the bench to cut the deficit to four and Collins followed that up with a layup to cut the deficit to two.

Following an Archer turnover, Collins nailed a three-pointer to give the Broncos their first lead of the night, 45-44 with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter.

But their lead was brief.

Two McGowan free throws gave the Tigers the lead back and they held it for the next five minutes before the Broncos got it back for good.

Collins gave the Broncos the lead back midway through the fourth quarter with another clutch three-pointer and Phelan later gave them a three-point lead after drilling a corner three-pointer after the Tigers were able to briefly knot the game at 54.

McCoy got a floater to fall on their next possession that extended their lead out to five and Weathersby scored her final two points of the night moments later after grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring to give them a 61-56 lead.

Trailing by three, the Tigers had an opportunity to send the game into overtime with a three-pointer, but an attempt by McGowan clanged off the rim to give the Broncos the come-from-behind win.

The Broncos will now enter the Class AAAAAAA state playoffs as a No. 1 seed while the Tigers will settle for a No. 2 seed.

Four tigers scored in double figures. Bryant and Mearah Whitehead both scored 11 points to lead the way while McGowan and Courtney Nesbitt both scored 10.