The Turner County Lady Rebels walked off the Macon Coliseum court last March dejected after losing to Taylor County. The feeling of that loss stung and has been a driving force for Tasha Kimble’s squad. That motivation has been a key factor for the Lady Rebels all season long and after Saturday’s 57-44 victory, they will have a shot at redemption.
Mylashia Yancey continued her strong play, scoring 33 points and vaulting her team to the state championships. Photo: Jessica Peters/SGSN
“We have used last year’s loss in Macon as motivation all year long,” said head coach Tasha Kimble.
It didn’t start out well as the Lady Rebels found themselves down 20-10 midway through the second quarter. A late 7-0 run by the Lady Rebels trimmed the deficit to 20-17. The Lady Rebels had to feel fortunate to be only down by three at the half.
“I told my girls at halftime that we weren’t playing Turner County basketball and that we needed to come out and play much better in the second half. We settled down and played much better against a good Wheeler County team,” said Kimble.
Order was quickly restored as Turner County started the second half on an 8-0 run and eventually took a 37-31 lead into the fourth quarter. Wheeler County made a run but the Lady Rebels pulled away for the victory.
Senior Mylashia Yancey finished with a game high 33 points and 13 rebounds. Fellow senior Brishuana Barnes also finished in double figures with 12 points.
With the victory, the Lady Rebels (30-0) advance to the Class A state championship on Thursday at 3:00 at the Macon Coliseum.