BASKETBALL: East Laurens girls endure Elbert County upset bid to bring home first-ever state crown

MACON – There were times when it appeared East Laurens was destined to let success slip through its fingers and open the door for Elbert County.

And then just as quickly, Elbert County reciprocated.

Eventually, East Laurens had enough of that.

Elbert County gave East Laurens a serious late challenge after trailing by 14 in the first half, and the Falcons got just enough key plays down the stretch for a 63-55 win Friday in the GHSA Class A/Division I girls state championship at the Macon Coliseum.

Not until the final dozen seconds could the throng of black – with a little gold in there – start seriously celebrating, while head coach Danielle Lowther calmly took it all in.

“I feel overwhelmed,” she admitted.

She kept her composure after the game and through a few rounds of interviews, an impressive feat for somebody who has been tied to East Laurens for decades, and still plenty today.

Behind the bench stood her husband Dwayne, the boys coach, who eventually made his misty-eyed way to the locker room. There were Lowthers and Burleys – the coach’s maiden name – throughout the Coliseum.

“My dad worked at East Laurens High school,” she said. “My husband works at East Laurens. My brother, he worked at East Laurens, both my brother and his wife.”

There’s a graduated Lowther, former Falcon basketball player (De’Asia), as well as the two on the team, DeAndrea and Deanna. And husband Dwayne coaches the East Laurens boys.

Deanna Lowther was the game’s MVP.

“It’s very emotional,” the senior forward said. “We practice like we play in the game.”

Elbert County, with a drive of about 120 interstate-free miles, felt a little more at home early, leading 14-11 five minutes into the game.

East Laurens’ first “enough of that” appeared, with Garyunna Mitchell’s layup and bucket off a steal, giving the Falcons an 18-14 lead that stood at 23-18 after a quarter.

The teams both took 17 shots, East Laurens making one more and getting four more points at the line.

The Coliseum then became East Laurens’ living room.

The Falcons upped the margin to double digits in a little more than a minute, with a 16-footer and 3-pointer from Jemeria Bing, battling an illness, sandwiching a 3 from Alasia Wiggins to make it 31-20.

The comfort zone and accuracy rate grew, and two more buckets from Mitchell and one from Deanna Lowther put East Laurens ahead 36-22 and in control.

Seemingly.

Elbert County slowly started playing better defense and taking control of the ball more, both of which helped keep East Laurens in range. A 3 from Kaylen Rucker was part of a solid ending to the second quarter, allowing Elbert County to get within 42-33 at halftime.

At one point, she gave a frustrated Robinson a hug.

“She turned the ball over a little bit:” Lowther said. “I said, ‘We’re OK. Relax. We’re OK. We’re going to do this, and we’re going to do this together.’

“And they believe me.”

As decent as the first half was, the third quarter was the opposite, as neither team had much going for it. 

Elbert County hit on all of four shots in 14 tries for 29 percent, and East Laurens kept the door open by making only 3 of 12 shots, 25 percent.

The Blue Devils took some advantage of the Falcons’ drought of 5:35 to get within a bucket on another 3 from Rucker, who finished with a team-high 16 points. That made it 46-44 with 1:16 left in the third, East Laurens watching the school’s first state title perhaps slip away.

Two free throws, after Bing’s fourth foul, with two seconds left pulled Elbert County within 50-46 heading to the fourth.

“We knew they were coming out real hard in the second half,” Deanna Lowther said. “We expected it.”

The teams traded misses and turnovers and a few baskets until Elbert County warmed up and East Laurens chilled out. Rucker’s off-balance bucket and two freebies from Tiyah Thurman got the sweat glands going in suddenly a one-point game.

“We’ve been telling them all since we knew we were going to play them that they’re a team that kind of gets down in the first half,” Danielle Lowther said. “Second half, they come full force. We told them we can’t be that team that they come back on and beat like they beat all the other teams.

“We told them to stay the course, stay composed, that we were OK.”

Two missed free throws and four more Rucker scores – including one the went through the rim as she hit the floor – later, Elbert County was on top 55-54 with 2:49 to go until a coronation or overtime.

Wiggins struggled to a 1-for-6 night from the floor, but two free throws eight seconds later returned East Laurens to the lead.

For good.

The Blue Devils turned it over, and paid on Zahmaria Robinson’s short baseline bucket with 2:10 left.

Effort overshadowed execution for a spell, Elbert County blowing chances to make up ground and East Laurens failing to deliver a knockout punch.

Until seconds remained, the clock having become East Laurens’ best friend as the teams swung and missed.

Bing returned to the game, and put the Falcons up 61-55 with a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left. Wiggins followed a turnover with a pair of party-starting makes at the line, giving the veteran head coach the confidence to stroll down the bench and low-five her team.

She did have to lovingly bop one Falcon, covering her tearing-up face, on the forehead so she wasn’t left hanging.

Lowther stood at the end of the bench, then took a few steps backs and all but melted into chair as the horn sounded and Falcons stormed the court. It took her almost half a minute to resume breathing and get up to join the joy.

“They work hard, they believe, and they want to win,” the head coach said after her team battled a little bit better down the stretch. “That’s what they do.”

Deanna Lowther led the Falcons with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Mitchell played beyond her freshman year’s experience with 17 points and 10 rebounds, plus four steals. 

“They are twin towers, we call them,” Danielle Lowther said. “We haven’t come across a team this whole season that can stop both of them. They do dynamite stuff. And they work very good together.”

Bing, in fewer minutes than usual, added 12 points. Robinson was good for another nine points and eight rebounds as well as six assists.

Rucker had 16 for Elbert County (22-8), with Lunsford and Thurman adding 12 each.

The Falcons got 12 more points off of turnovers, 12 more in the paint, and held the Blue Devils to 34.5 percent shooting. East Laurens was good on 38.9 percent, and made five more free throws than Elbert County attempted.

Championship games are less about exceptional play and highlights and more about the details, composure and steadiness when it counts the most. And the Falcons checked those boxes.

“It really does feel good,” the head coach said. “I don’t think really it has sunk in yet. Just to be able to do something for my school that hadn’t been done. It speaks wonders to what God did.”

And what the Falcons did, too.