Macon Coliseum - Macon, GA 

Picked to win, and they did, Atkinson County realized if they were going to make it to the championship round they would have to play their best game to get by the smaller Lady Rebels from Jefferson County.

The Atkinson County Lady Rebels found themselves in an all out battle against the Jefferson County Lady Dragons escaping with a 65-56 win in the final four of the state championship in Macon on Wednesday.

The Lady Rebels jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first period on the play of Alesia Thomas and Gayla Williams before Jefferson County’s freshman shooting guard Mimi Dubose found her eye from three-point range.

Dubose and senior Shae David went to work for the Lady Dragons combining for 12 points, but AC roared back with Williams doing the damage dropping in nine points and pulling down eight rebounds bringing the first half to a close with both teams tied at 32.

Despite the fact that the Lady Dragons were definitely outsized, they made it very clear, if Atkinson was to win they would have to play all four quarters to do it.

Both teams scored five points each to start the second half before AC went on a 7-3 run to end the third period ahead 44-40.

Williams went on a scoring run dropping in 10 straight points the hard way posting up on the smaller Lady Dragons to put her team ahead 54-48 with 3:24 left to play.

Jefferson stuck close to the Lady Rebels with Dubose scorching the nets from three-point territory while junior Marti Davis came off the bench to give the Lady Rebels help on the boards while blocking four shots.

Jefferson could only get within six points of Atkinson when Williams and Thomas started to dominate with Thomas driving strong to the basket and Williams rejecting everything coming inside on defense to lead their Lady Rebels to victory and a shot at the state title.

Scoring Recap

Atkinson County:

Gayla Williams (6-0 sr.) 25 points, 15 rebounds, 4 block shots; Alesia Thomas (5-1 jr.) 19 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists; Tiffany Thomas (5-7 sr.) 7 points.

Jefferson County:

Mimi Dubose (5-7 fr.) 19 points, 4 three-pointers; Shalita Brooks (5-7 sr.) 12 points; Shae David (5-6 sr.) 8 points; Marti Davis (5-7 jr.) 7 rebounds, 4 block shots.