‘Never going to quit.’ After two-loss season, Troup girls fight not enough in hoops title game.
The dream season had to end at some point. For the Troup girls basketball team, it happened at the worst possible time.
Uncharacteristic mistakes, mounting foul trouble and cold shooting were all factors, but Americus-Sumter’s game plan, to move the ball fast up the court and draw fouls, was one Troup couldn’t overcome.
The Tigers on Friday lost the GHSA class 4A state championship to the Panthers 66-52 to end a two-loss season where the team went undefeated in the regular season and knocked off 2019 state champion Carver in the Final Four.
“We were never going to quit,” Troup head coach Carla Thornton said. “We fought all the way to the end. There were some turns of the game that didn’t go our way, kind of got us down a little bit, especially the start of the game (where) we got in foul trouble early. That changed our whole game plan.”
FOUL TROUBLE
Americus-Sumter was in the bonus four minutes into the game. Troup was called for three charges in the first three minutes. The Tigers and Panthers were called for a combined 14 fouls in the first half, and it only got worse as the game progressed.
The Tigers could not afford to drive to the basket as often once their starters started picking up fouls.
Troup’s Amber Gilbert and D. McCullough fouled out in the fourth quarter, and Aniya Palmer, the Tigers’ main inside threat, picked up three fouls in the first half.
“We lost size, we lost our shot blockers and put in guards,” Thornton said. “They got going on attacking the basket, and finishing on the inside, which is something a lot of people don’t do on us. We tried to counter what they did, but it is difficult when you have too many smalls in the game.”
PANTHERS WENT FAST, TROUP COULDN’T COUNTER
Much like Carver tried to do in its Final Four loss to the Tigers, Americus-Sumter jumped out early in an effort to push the tempo and score quick baskets. It worked, especially early, and the Tigers struggled to answer.
Americus-Sumter’s Trinity Jones led all scorers with 21 points, followed closely by Jelissa Reese’s 19 points. Reese finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
“Once they shot, they killed us on the glass,” Thornton said. “And we weren’t getting back fast enough, so they got a lot of easy baskets.”
Gilbert led the Tigers with 15 points, while Palmer recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
NO DAMPER ON A MEMORABLE SEASON
If there’s any kind of silver lining in a state championship loss, it’s this: Troup returns nearly everybody — and most of its star power — next season.
Troup’s entire starting five from Friday outside of Gilbert is expected to return in 2020. Three of the four returners from the starting five are underclassmen.
“I told them after the game, ‘nobody expected you to be here,’” Thornton said. “’We played almost 30 games, you only lost two. I know it hurts, but live in the moment. ... You played for a state championship.’
“Moments like this, they don’t always happen.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 1:29 PM.
