The Panthers' boys finished off the sweep with a rout of the Wolverines in the nightcap.
WOODRUFF — It wasn’t the prettiest win of all-time Friday night but after a two-hour battle of attrition, and 79 combined free throws, Chapman girls basketball coach Leslie Boyd was happy to take it. On a night when the Panthers went 19-of-42 from the foul line, they rose up and hit five straight in overtime to seal a 56-52 win at rival Woodruff.
It was a key win in Region III-3A as Chapman moved to 3-4 in the conference. The Wolverines fell to 4-3 in the region.
“We’ve had a rocky week and we’ve just been preaching, ‘Battle, battle, battle.” I feel like our girls really battled through adversity tonight,” Boyd said. “When the time came, they stepped up so I’m proud of them.”
In a second quarter that featured 29 free throws, Woodruff used a late 12-0 run to take a 28-20 lead into halftime. The Wolverines led by as many as 11 in the third quarter before Chapman had an 11-2 rally to cut Woodruff’s lead to 36-34 going into the fourth quarter.
In a rough fourth quarter in which the teams went a combined 4-for-17 from the foul line, Zavia Jeter’s layup with 1:09 left pushed the Wolverines ahead 44-43. In the final minute of regulation, Chapman’s Breana Mabry, Paige Aho and Isies Moore each hit 1-of-2 free throws as the Panthers took a 46-44 lead.
With 18.3 seconds left, Chapman had a chance to possibly wrap it up but missed a pair of free throws leaving Woodruff one more chance. Lily Cairns hit a finger-roll layup with three seconds left to force overtime.
That momentum didn’t carry over for the Wolverines as Mabry opened overtime with a layup. After a 10-second violation on Woodruff, Mabry hit another layup as Chapman took a 50-46 lead. In the final two minutes, the Panthers made five consecutive free throws. Aho then hit 1-of-2 with 17 seconds left to wrap up the scoring for the game.
Aho’s perimeter shooting kept Chapman in the game for the first three quarters before Mabry’s strength inside helped the Panthers pull it out. Aho, who hit five 3-pointers, had a game-high 25 points and eight steals. Mabry finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
“Both of them hit big-time shots. Paige is a great shooter, and Bre stepped up big time,” Boyd said. “She’s a senior and she came up with some easy buckets down the stretch.”
Kaliyah Gilliam led Woodruff with 19 points before fouling out in overtime. She hit 11-of-22 free throws for the Wolverines, who were 24-of-37 from the foul line as a team. Cairns had nine points, while Jeter had eight points and 12 rebounds before she fouled out in OT also for Woodruff.
BOYS — Chapman 81, Woodruff 62: Isayah Owens highlighted Chapman's night of sharp-shooting with a game-high 28 points. Owens made six of the Panthers' 11 3-pointers and the sophomore went 10-for-10 from the foul line.
Jaylin Petty-Hartsfield added 15 points, while Mikele Colasurdo had 10, Brandon Fortenberry-Smith nine and Banks Atkins eight for Chapman (15-6, 5-2).
Marcellas Dial led Woodruff with 20 points. Marquel Evins added 11 points, while Chandler Turner scored nine for the Wolverines (4-12, 1-6), who played without starters Omarion McKelvin (sick) and Tyler West (injured).