Chrineshia McRae holds up a sign in support of sister Chania.
BCHS sought their first elite eight appearance since 2013 Wednesday night. Their opponent was 20-win Dade County, third seed from 7-AA.
T'Keyah Pasby scores.
Aliyah Whitehead and Jahnaria Brown combined for 16 of the team's 18 first quarter points as they led 18-16. Though going the final two plus minutes of the half without scoring, BC carried a 25-23 lead into the dressing room.
Though being knocked to the floor, Aliyah Whitehead's basket went in.
Up 32-31 going to the fourth, a Brown basket pushed the advantage to five. Dade went on a 10-1 run and was up 43-39 with 2:35 left. After getting within one on a Fellisia Young three-point play, Whitehead's three-point play with 55 seconds left put the Lady Royals ahead 45-43.
The team then proceeded to miss six straight free throws. But the BC defense would force Dade into several tough shots. A last ditch three as time expired fell short, preserving the win. Brown had 16 points. Whitehead finished with 15. Free throw shooting was 10 of 28.
The cheerleaders encourage BC to "fire it up."
Bleckley struggled at times with Dade's pressure defense. Head coach Jenny Manning attributed it to the length of Dade, adding "we're smaller then they are." When asked how concerned she was about the free throw shooting, Manning replied "I'm very concerned. We didn't shoot free throws good but we came down and played defense again. So one counters out the other one I guess."
Coach John Stanley and the bench react after the win.
BC will take on 6-AA top seed Hapeville Charter in the elite eight. Location will be determined with a coin flip.
