Cornelia Fondren leads Overton in City Championship

from CommercialAppeal.com

(2) Overton 67, (1) Central 62 (OT)

Overton won its second consecutive MIAA AAA girls basketball city championship Saturday at White Station, thanks to a little bit of luck and a whole lot of Cornelia Fondren.

The Lady Wolverines survived a ferocious comeback by top-ranked Central and held on to win in overtime, 67-62. The Lady Warriors forced the extra session with a fourth-quarter rally that saw them erase a 46-33 deficit after three quarters.

The Lady Warriors (19-6) still trailed by three with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation. They got the ball to Aaliyah Whiteside and the Georgia Tech signee buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie it -- and drew the foul. But she missed the free throw, giving Overton a chance to regroup.

"I said in the huddle before overtime, 'God has got to be on our side,'" said Wolverines coach Lynn Smith. "Aaliyah's a great shooter; if she took that shot again tomorrow she'd make it again. But we just kept our focus."

Said Fondren, "I was so surprised when she missed the free throw."

Overton (21-2 and ranked second in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen) kept its focus and pulled away in the overtime. The catalyst -- as she had been all game -- was Fondren.

The senior, who will play at Syracuse next season, was named the game's Most Valuable Player. She scored 30 points -- 28 in the second half and overtime -- and had the thankless task of chasing Central's Nina Davis around the floor for much of the game.

"My teammates picked me up," said Fondren, still teary-eyed moments after the game. "Right before overtime I was kind of upset but my teammates told me that they needed me."

Fondren's performance earned rave reviews from Central coach Niki Bray.

"She's the most explosive player I've seen in girls basketball," she said.

Overton also got a strong performance from its inside force, Cortrice Golden, who finished with 12 points.

Davis led the Lady Warriors with 25 points, while Whiteside added 15.


Overton (67) -- Philecia Atkins 10, Kelsey Briggs 6, Cornelia Fondren 35, Catrice Golden 12, Breanna Neal 4.

Central (62) -- Nina Davis 25, Tia Hyman 3, Marissa Knox 6, Jalen O'Bannon 7, Aaliyah Whiteside 14, Tia Wooten 7.

Overton / 13 / 11 / 22 / 8 / 13 / -- / 67 /

Central / 11 / 9 / 13 / 21 / 8 / -- / 62 /

Records -- Central 19-6.





In other City Championship games

Manassas 57, Oakhaven 42: Tiffnay Jones scored 23 points as the Lady Tigers won the AA title for the second straight year, despite a lackluster performance.

"We didn't really do anything well, to be honest," said coach Tommy Warren after watching his team improve to 24-3. "We missed too many free throws .. but all the credit goes to the girls. Hopefully this will give us some momentum heading into the district tournament."

Derrica Wiggins scored 10 points for the Hawks, who trailed by 14 at halftime and got to within five points twice in the second half.


Booker T. Washington 37, MAHS 36: Freshman Renisha Hale scored in the paint with two seconds left to cap a frantic final few seconds and give the Lady Warriors (22-1) the title.

"She was on the bench crying, thinking we had lost," said BTW coach Derek Hunter. "I told her, 'Hey, we still need you.'"

Terrica Robinson scored on a drive with 16 seconds left to tie it at 35 for BTW and was fouled. She missed the free throw and Kiara Hawkins hit 1-of-2 from the line to put MAHS up by one with 10 seconds to go.

Hale earned MVP honors after scoring 16 points. Senior Quatricia Page scored 10 to lead the Lady Lions (13-11), who made their first appearance in the city championship game.