Championship bound: Germantown clinches 6A North with 3-1 win over Madison Central

MADISON — For the first time in seven years Germantown is headed back to the state championship.

Behind the play of Diana Wells and DeAndrea McMillian the Mavericks got past rival Madison Central 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 27-25, 25-15) in the MHSAA Class 6A North State Championship on Monday night.’

Germantown (24-10) will face Brandon for the Class 6A State Championship on Thursday night at the Newell-Grissom Building at Mississippi State at 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.

“DeAndrea is just a difference-maker on our front row and at the net," Germantown coach Rita Sharpe said. "Any time we set up a ball for her, she smashes it. We were so hyped up to play, so we had to settle in and just made it happen.”

The first set was back and forth, with neither team getting a lead larger than three points. Madison Central took a 24-23 lead late in the set and eventually won it 26-24.

In the second set and with the score tied 5-5, Germantown went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 lead and never looked back from that point taking the set 25-17.

The third set was just like the first set, with neither team getting a lead larger than three to four points.

Down 24-22 late in the set, the Jaguars came back to take the lead 25-24, but Germantown rallied to  score three straight points to take the set 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, the Mavericks jumped out to a 16-7 lead and cruised to a 25-15 win to take the match.

“I got hired in 2019," Sharpe said. "My goal was to make it to the state championship in four years and here we are. This is huge for our program. We’ve been developing these girls and now we get the opportunity to go to State.”

Madison Central finished the season 28-9.