By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

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          The feeling and the emotion and anguish Janaye Walker felt was way, way too familiar.

          She walked, slowly and confused, to the bench, with her fifth foul, amid her team’s epic comeback, in its second straight GHSA Class AAAA girls state title game at the Macon Coliseum.

          The powerful junior went straight to the end of the bench, in total despair with 101 seconds left in a tie game, Baldwin having dug a huge 16-point hole in the third quarter only to climb out.

          And a major reason for this second straight trip was on the bench for the end.

          “I was like, ‘Ohhh my God, we were just getting out points in,” said Baldwin head coach Kizzi Walker, mom of the aforementioned standout.

          The Bravettes had her back.

          Kassidy Neal took a sweet pass from Madison Ruff 17 seconds later for the lead, and Baldwin clamped down the rest of the way for a 47-39 win over Hardaway for the school’s first girls state title in 36 years.

          The win held even more significance for the program, coming five months after the tragic death of arguably its best player, Tasha Butts, who a little more than two decades ago was on her hands and knees crying on the court in the same building after powerful Baldwin lost in the 2000 finals, a year after falling in the semifinals.

          “I just remember when Tasha was laying on the floor when they fell short,” Kizzi Walker said. “I said we’re dedicating this win to Tasha, because this is what she wanted.”

          A motto during Butts’ battle with cancer was “Tasha Tough,” and her alma mater sure lived up to that the final quarter and a half with a comeback will go down certainly in Baldwin High sports history.

          There were forced passes inside, missed layups, inconsistent defense, and some sloppy and lazy passes. Hardaway (27-5) looked better, but only led 15-9 at halftime, the Bravettes (29-2) managing all of three points in the second half.

          “We came out flat,” Kizzi Walker said. “We couldn’t get layups. Wasn’t playing defense. We came out sluggish. That was a big no-no.

          “We haven’t (looked that bad). Not this year. That was the lowest-scoring half we’ve ever had.”

          Baldwin was in need of a halftime speech. Based on the two minutes of the third quarter, Walker is unlikely to repeat much of what she said ever again. Granted, the scoldings and reminders were normal, but had no early impact.

          Hardaway started sharpening up, and opened with a 6-0 run before Baldwin managed two Janaye Walker free throws to break the drought at the 6:13 mark. In less than a minute, though, the margin was 27-11.

          And it sure looked like Baldwin wasn’t going to even get close to how it lost last year’s final to Griffin, which came down to the final half-minute.

          Walker scored low on a play Baldwin has executed all year, and suddenly, Hardaway started slowing down a little.

          Ruff’s free throw with 1:19 left got the Braves within single digits, and Walker scored in the paint for a seven-point margin.

          Ruff was on the left wing after a Hardaway turnover, went to the middle and all but staggered into the lane and flipped it in, adding a free throw with a second left, and a certain romp had become a 29-25 game.

          “We did get down at one point,” Ruff said. “We knew we had the heart to come back. They couldn’t compete with us, our size and our speed.”

          The margin was five with 4:44 left. And it was gone in about 80 seconds when Baldwin tied it. Hardaway regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Mikayla Johnson, the Bravettes tying it again with 1:58 left before taking its first lead since the final two minutes of the first quarter on Neal’s bucket at 1:19.

          Walker had fouled out 12 seconds earlier and sat at the end of the bench, forlorn and hopeful.

          But the team coming back was energized. The team that led for so long was done.

          Hardaway went scoreless the final 2:48, and Baldwin  went 7 for 10 from the line down the stretch to seal it.

          “It’s a testament to their hard work, their dedication, their drive to want to win” Kizzi Walker said. “So, I got to give it up to the girls. They were determined to be state champs.”

          For awhile, in spite of themselves.

          “I was very nervous,” Neal said. “I was nervous for our team, for our fans, I was nervous all around. But as the game went on, I started getting more confident, we started to pick up momentum, and shut them down.”

          Adazha Burrell had 13 points and Akilah Shelton 12 for Hardaway. Ruff went for 17 points and eight rebounds, and Janaye Walker 15, with 13 rebounds. Neal had nine points and seven boards, plus three steals in 31 minutes.

          Janaye Walker was almost distraught in her postgame joy, crying and wiping her face and hardly celebrating. She was more energetic minutes later when the Bravettes caught their head coach flat-footed approaching the locker room and charged out to douse and soak her with water.

          And then back to calm and collected, and just talking about the game, and sweating out that last minute or so.

          “I was wondering would they keep up the defense, would they score on offense, and would they keep up the pace,” she said, admitting concern. “They actually proved me wrong, and they did what they were supposed to do.”