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It’s only fitting that Tamia Smith, the only senior on the entire roster, would help save Baldwin’s dream season.
Smith sunk four second-half 3-pointers, as the Bravettes once again came from behind for a 57-46 victory over Northwest Whitfield in the GHSA quarterfinals at Lunsford Gym.
The comeback win over a gritty and talented Lady Bruins squad from north Georgia punched the Bravettes ticket to the Final 4 for the first time since 2009, when most of the current players were in preschool.
Smith was on cloud 9 after the game and understandably so, and she gave an interview to Baldwin2k News, which can be viewed immediately below…
The row to hoe now gets even tougher for the Bravettes, however, as they’ll square off against top-ranked Luella on Friday at 2 p.m. over in Fort Valley. At stake will be a spot in the state championship game in Macon on Saturday. The Lady Lions, out of Henry County, dispatched defending champs Carver Columbus 78-61 on Monday night, running their winning streak to 15 games in a row.
Baldwin, despite only having one upperclasswoman on the roster, won’t be afraid, though. The Bravettes have a win streak of their own, 16 in a row, and they also have the confidence that they can come back. The Northwest Whitfield game actually was the second playoff game in a row where Head Coach Kizzi Trawick’s girls were trailing at halftime and came back to win.
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Smith led Baldwin on Monday with 16, while freshmen twin towers Kassidy Neal and Janaye Walker scored 13 and 12, respectively. Despite only being ninth graders, Neal and Walker were the two tallest and strongest girls on the court, and Northwest Whitfield had no answers. Baldwin’s star player – sophomore guard Madison Ruff –also reached double digits and finished with 11 points.
