The buzzer blares, the whistles blow, the Chamblee supporters erupt with applause — the Lady Bulldogs have fought long and hard, and now that hard work has finally paid off.
The Chamblee girls basketball team traveled to play the Columbia Eagles at Southwest DeKalb High School on February 9, 2018. Tipoff was at 4 p.m., and the struggle began.
Columbia started off with strong defense, stalling the Lady Bulldogs at four points at the end of the first quarter, while scoring nine for themselves. With five minutes left in the second quarter, Columbia was still going strong with a five point lead, but as the end of the second quarter approached, Chamblee was only trailing by one point.
The first two quarters were tough, but after halftime when the Lady Bulldogs returned from the locker room, they were back and even better.
Two minutes into the third quarter and Chamblee tied Columbia with 16 points, and once the Lady Bulldogs took the lead, they were determined to leave Columbia in the dust. By the end of the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs had maintained a three point lead against the Columbia Eagles, ending the quarter with a score of 21 to 18.
The Lady Bulldogs started off the fourth quarter just as strong, maintaining a three or more point lead throughout the entire quarter. With five minutes left in the game, the Lady bulldogs were still in the lead with a score of 25 to 22. But as the time ran out, the Columbia Eagles were determined to catch up, trailing Chamblee 32 to 29 with one minute left on the board.
But when the buzzer sounded, the Lady Bulldogs secured their place at the State Playoffs with a final score of 35 to 30.
“We are working very hard, it takes a lot of effort to beat the teams we play against,” said senior Alyssa Allen. “I am really looking forward to finishing well in the post season.”
Unfortunately Chamblee’s boys team did not secure a spot at State. As scheduled, the Chamblee Bulldogs faced the Lithonia Bulldogs at Southwest DeKalb on February 9. Lithonia struggled to score on the aggressive Chamblee defense, trailing Chamblee 17 to 9 at the end of the first quarter.
Seemingly frustrated by Chamblee’s lead, Lithonia played hard throughout the second quarter, going into halftime trailing Chamblee 25 to 23.
Chamblee’s boys unfortunately struggled to keep up with Lithonia newly found moral, trailing Lithonia 29 to 27 five minutes into the third quarter. But despite the Chamblee Bulldogs best efforts, the buzzer sounded with a final score of 59 to 51, Lithonia for the win.
“I feel like this season overall could have been much better, we just did not execute that well,” said Anthony Frazier. “We played our best but unfortunately we could not take the win.”
