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Lady Tigers withstand Tri-Cities long-range barrage, advance to Elite Eight
Bradwell-Tri Cities girls 1
Bradwell's Destini McLemore works her way down the baseline against the Tri-Cities defense. McLemore was 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the Lady Tigers' win.

The Bradwell Institute Lady Tigers found a winning formula to overcome Tri-Cities’ 3-point barrage.

The Lady Tigers went 17-of-24 from the free throw line, including sinking 6 of 8 in the final 30 seconds, and also forced turnovers on three straight Lady Bulldogs’ possessions to take a 45-37 win in the second round of the Class AAAAA girls state basketball playoffs.

The Lady Tigers, now 28-0, will host River Ridge, the reigning Class AAAAA state champs, on Tuesday. Tip-off time is 6 p.m.

After Janiyah Blevins hit a 3 with 1:35 left in the first quarter, the Lady Tigers led 11-8 and never trailed again. But Tri-Cities gave the Bradwell faithful some anxious moments in the game’s late stages.

Bradwell led 36-27 after Mikayla Oliveira free throws with 7:46 remaining in the game. The Lady Bulldogs worked their back to within one at 38-37 as Alyssia Bandele and Faith Scruggs knocked down 3s, and Janiah Murray got a layup.

Tri-Cities hit seven 3-point shots, accounting for 57% of their offense. The Lady Bulldogs made more 3-point shots than two-point field goals (six).

But after a timeout, Destini McLemore knocked down two free throws, and after the Lady Tigers got a steal, she got two more foul shots. A five-second call on the inbounds followed, and Blevins connected on two free throws before the Lady Tigers got another steal on an inbounds play.

River Ridge routed South Paulding 66-29 in its second-round game. The winner of Tuesday night’s game will face the winner of the Loganville-Creekview game on Friday at 5 p.m. at Georgia State University’s arena. 

River Ridge went 31-1 a year ago in winning the state title and is 22-7 this year, having gone 15-0 in Region 6AAAAAA. Region foes Creekview and Sequoyah also are in the Elite Eight. 

Finley Parker, a 6-foot-3 junior center, leads the Knights with 19.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Senior Makayla Roberson is averaging 17.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and is ranked as the No. 5 shooting guard in the state by sandysspiel.com. Teammate Kyla Cantey is ranked as the No. 7 shooting guard in the state.