Georgia Crowns Its Champions

By Tyrus McBride
HoopGurlz Southeast Correspondent
Posted Sat, 03/08/2008 - 14:49 The 4A and 5A state titles were won Friday night behind star play from star players.

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SUWANNEE, Ga. - No surprises were on hand for the AAAA and AAAAA championship games Friday night in Georgia as Southwest DeKalb High School (Decatur, Ga.) and Stephenson High School (Stone Mountain, Ga.) both won handily to take home the championship trophies in each classification in Georgia.

AAAA

South Carolina signee Charenee Stephens, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, put up another dominate performance (20 points and 20 rebounds in semi-final action) with 21 points and 18 rebounds to put away the game early to propel Southwest Dekalb over Fayette County High School (Fayetteville, Ga.) 62-46 in the championship game. The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. This is the first state championship ever for Southwest DeKalb. It was only fitting that its star player, Stephens, ended her high school basketball career with such a monumental win for her school. It was not only the Panthers (31-2) first championship, but the culmination of its pre-season selection as the No. 1 team. The team met all expectations.

"I think we wanted it more," Stephens said. "It meant more to us. These other schools, the Collins Hills, the Stephensons, they've been here before. Soutwest DeKalb is now in the spotlight, and we were happy to be a part of that."

Southwest Dekalb has three Division I caliber players on their squad led by Stephens (South Carolina), Simone Rutledge (Tennessee Tech) a 6-1 senior forward, and stand-out senior point guard Ebony Mitchell who is uncommitted but making an official visit to Illinois next week. Mitchell has narrowed her choices to Illinois, Indiana and Temple. Mitchell scored 12 points, had 10 assists and snatched six steals. Rutledge chipped in eight boards, four points, and three blocks.

AAAAA

Stephenson reclaimed the AAAAA championship after recovering from three years of consecutive losses in the semi-finals after winning the title in 2004 with a 58-43 victory over Redan High School (Stone Mountain, Ga.). Led by LSU-signee Taylor Turnbow along with Georgia State signee Jylisa Williams, Stephenson was able to dominate Redan on both ends of the floor. This was Redan's first trip back to the final four since 2003 with star Porsha Phillips, who now a Georgia Bulldog.

Turnbow, after transferring to Stephenson High School from neighboring Tucker High School this year, was able to complete the puzzle for Stephenson by adding a dominate presence in the paint. Turnbow finished with a double-double with 15 rebounds and 12 blocked shots along with eight points to finish her high school career.

Taylor Turnbow extends with the ball
at Nike Nationals

"I am extremely excited that we did what we have done all year,” Turnbow said, “and played solid team basketball and fortunately came out on top."

Williams was apart of the nationally ranked team last year as well as all three seasons losing in the semi-final playoffs (Maya Moore finally moved on to college). Williams left her heart on the court and it showed in her play. She ended the game with 15 points, six steals and four rebounds along with two blocked shots. Jylisa also turned up the heat on defense holding Redan’s sophomore star point guard, Alicia Andrews, to only nine points. In post season play this was the first game Andrews was held under the 20-point mark.

The most fitting quote of the night came from Williams. "After leaving Gwinnett Arena at the end of the last three seasons crying we knew we didn’t want to have that feeling again. We knew we had to come out strong and make a statement. If we were going to leave crying they were going to be tears of joy this year."

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Tyrus McBride has played for Muskogee High in Muskogee, Okla.; Connors State College in Warner, Okla., and the Tyndall Air Force Base in Bay County, Fla. He also has officiated at the high-school, NCAA Division II and Division III, NAIA and junior-college levels, and continues to train and schedule officials. Ty has coached with Finest Basketball Club (FBC) Georgia and Collins Hill High School Fall League for two years, and has coached boys and girls in skills development at all levels, and at several Division I college camps across the nation. He can be reached at ty@hoopgurlz.com.

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