The Briarwood Academy Lady Bucs take their 24-7 record to the GISA Class AA Final Four this weekend.
Coach Clayton Parrish’s team will meet the defending state champion Terrell Academy of Dawson, Ga., at 4 p.m. Friday at Georgia College & State University at Milledgeville. The winner will advance to the championship game at 3:20 p.m. Saturday. The finals opponent will be the winner of Friday’s 5:30 p.m. game between the Gatewood Academy of Eaton Gators and the Christian Heritage Academy Lions of Dalton, Ga. The Lady Gators have stopped the Lady Bucs three times this season.
“I’m really proud of these girls,” Parrish said Tuesday. “They’ve done a really good job for us in these playoffs.”
In last week’s first-round games at Middle Georgia College in Cochran., Briarwood defeated Harvester Christian from Douglasville on Wednesday, 37-35. “That was an exciting game,” Parrish said. “They ran a different kind of defense, a box and one on Rachel Coxwell, and did a good job of shutting her down. But Tiffany (Pate) did a great job inside. She had 23 points, 15 in the second half. Rachel was a decoy.”
“We were down 2 at halftime and all the girls did a good job defensively and in keeping their composure. We were able to survive and advance.”
The Lady Bucs then met the Knights of Frederica Academy on Friday and won 38-28. “They were a very tall team, three girls over 6 feet tall. We changed our defense and played a 3-2 zone, very effective for negating their height inside,” he said.
Coxwell, a senior, had 19 points in the victory over the St. Simons Island school. Pate, a sophomore, had 10 points.
Parrish said the Lady Bucs expect the Eagles to be a very tough opponent. That squad has been ranked second or third most of the year, he said. Terrell’s overall record is 24-3. Terrell has been state champion the past three years. The Briarwood and Terrell teams have not met in six years, Parrish said.
