Lady Leopards overcome physical Athens Academy to secure region title! [VIDEO]

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In a low-scoring affair in which four players fouled out, #2-ranked Banks County led wire to wire in a 54-37 physical matchup with #6 Athens Academy, securing the Region 8-AA Championship. It marked the 17th win in a row for the Lady Leopards (24-3).

Banks County had to dig deep for this one. After a hot start in which Ryleigh Murphy scored the first 5 points and 8 in the opening quarter, the Lady Leopards held a comfy 18-8 lead. Murphy splashed a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter, and Athens Academy (18-6) got a buzzer-beater to go at the end of th first.

Newly named Region Player of the Year Kamryn Grier was in foul trouble early, and came out with 4:30 left in the opening quarter and sat until the second. She was held to just 2 points (both on free throws), and no buckets in the contest, though she found other ways to make her presence felt.

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A 3-point play by Murphy in the second kept the lead secure at 21-8. The sophomore had 15 points in the first half, as Banks had a 29-17 lead heading into the locker room.

Reese Murphy got a basket to go in the third and push the margin up to 32-19, and she added another from beyond the arc to make it a 38-21 game. After the third, Banks County’s lead hit 43-27.

Then Athens Academy turned up the physicality. The Lady Spartans ended up seeing three players foul out and a couple others close to doing the same. They slowly eeked back, getting within 8 points at 44-36 with just 4:29 on the clock. The Lady Leopards were held to zero field goals until the 1:09 mark, though Addison Hoard made a handful of free throws to keep points going up. The shot with 1:09 left came from Ryleigh Murphy on her third 3-pointer of the game.

Grier’s first point came with 53 seconds to go in the game, but the free throw was much-needed to secure the win. Ryleigh Murphy led all scorers with 22 points, and Hoard closed with 14. Reese Murphy had 6, Valentina Torres had 4, Carley Segars and Madison Adams had 3, and Grier had 2. The Lady Leopards claimed their first region title since the 2017-18 season.