HILLIARD — Fort White had no time to agonize over its one-possession loss in last year’s regional championship against Hilliard.
But in Friday’s rematch under the same circumstances, it was all the Indians could do to watch as their deficit only grew throughout the night.
No. 2 seed Fort White will need at least one more year to figure out a path to the state Final Four after dropping Friday’s Region 3-R championship to top-seeded Hilliard 56-37. Meanwhile, the Flashes (24-5) advance to their second consecutive state semifinal appearance.
“It just didn’t go our way,” FWHS coach Bregay Harris said. “Just one of those games where our shots weren’t falling.
“Hat’s off to Hilliard. They’re a good basketball team. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Indians (17-10) looked poised early. Zuri Hollie, who had a game-high 40 points in last season’s regional championship loss to Hilliard, sliced in to grab an offensive rebound before putting in the first points of Friday’s rematch.
Less than a minute later, center Jahlaya Wilson doubled the lead with a layup after a nice feed inside from guard Erickah Roberson. Wilson finished with a team-high 15 points to go with seven boards and five blocks.
The second basket followed the early trend for Fort White: get the ball into the paint by any means necessary. It worked to an extent, with the Flashes racking up 10 personal fouls in the first half, including three on senior forward Kailyn Ballance.
“We got in the paint,” Harris said. “That was the game plan.”
But it’d be the biggest lead of the night for the Indians. Guard Charlee Matos responded with the first of her two 3-pointers of the quarter, with her second tying the game at 8 apiece before Wilson connected on a last-second layup going the other way.
The 10-8 lead would be the last the Indians could support. After an inbounds play to set up forward Palin Holley for her lone two points on the night tied things up, senior Alyssa Hallman began her hot streak.
Hallman, last year’s leading scorer for the Flashes in the regional championship matchup, was held scoreless in the first quarter. But her 3-pointer the next trip down the court following a Fort White turnover led to her scoring 13 in the second. Hallman wound up with a game-high 31 points to go with eight rebounds and two assists.
The Indians did keep matters close early in the second quarter, with Hollie converting a steal into a layup on the other end to cut the deficit to 15-14 midway through the period. Forward Tanesha Sloan once again made it a one-point game after hitting a pair of free throws before Hallman immediately responded with her second 3-pointer. Guard Reah Saunders followed with another long ball 30 seconds later before a Hallman layup and a split pair of free throws put the Flashes up 30-20 at the half.
“We just got a little stagnant offensively,” Harris said.
Fort White made a few different runs throughout the third quarter, cutting the lead to eight with a Wilson turnaround floater with 5:55 remaining. But each run was seemingly met with simply more offense from Hallman, who hit on her third triple to push the margin back out to 35-24 en route to scoring seven straight for her team and building a 43-31 lead heading into the fourth.
“We did our job on her early in the game,” Harris said. “She didn’t get off as many points as she usually does.”
By that point, the offense for Fort White looked spent. Senior guard Mariah Cox was held to eight points and three rebounds while Hollie finished with eight points as well. Javiona Roberson’s three points and guard Jermauni Byrd’s one rounded out the scoring for the Indians.
The only negative the Flashes experienced on the night was an injury scare when Saunders hit the deck after getting fouled with 7:12 remaining. The eighth-grader, who managed the only other double-digit scoring effort from either team with 15 points, managed to walk it off before later re-entering.
After watching her team’s season come to an end in the same spot for the second year running, Harris said she feels confident Fort White can return to the stage next year and, hopefully, finish the job.
“You’ve got to take the offseason to get better,” Harris said. “A lot of these kids are playing some high-level AAU this year, so they’ll get a few looks (from colleges). And that’s the most important thing. A lot of them are juniors, so to get them those looks, to get them somewhere in school after they graduate (is good).
“The talent coming back, it’s gonna be good. I think the locker room will be a little different next year.”