MCEACHERN
27-2, REGION 4
It took one season to rebuild from historic 33-0 state championship run in 2012, but McEachern is back and possibly better than ever. After a disappointing first-round exit in 2013, the Indians are a perfect 22-0 against Georgia teams this season. In the playoffs, McEachern has posted a 36.65 average margin of victory and is scoring a demoralizing 25.5 first-quarter points per game.
Junior point guard Te’a Cooper sets the pace and the UNC-commit averages 20 points per game. Cooper has scored in double-figures every game this season except a 79-46 blowout against Pebblebrook when she netted nine points off of just seven shots.
Forward Caliya Robinson transferred from Kell this offseason and has been the perfect complement to McEachern’s aggressive backcourt. Robinson averages 15 points per game, 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals per game. In McEachern’s 94-75 win over Brunswick in the second round, Robinson finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 17 blocked shots. This star-studded team knows how to share the spotlight and the ball. Four players, including Robinson are averaging close to four assists per game.
Senior Taylor Gordon is a 40 percent three-point shooter averaging 12.7 points per game and sopho- more guard Jada Lewis is averaging more than 14 points per game during the second half of this season. Aunesha Williams transferred to McEachern after she won the Cherokee County player of the year at Cherokee High School. Williams can dial up a big game whenever her number is called and notched a 29-point, 26-rebound game in last year’s playoffs for the Warriors. Head coach Phyllis Arthur plays to the strengths of each player, and the result is a lineup that can not only score in the triple-digits, but can also force a state- best 17.4 steals per game on the defensive side.
ARCHER
29-3, Region 8
Head coach Ryan Lesniak has continued setting higher goals each season for the Tigers, who are in just their fifth varsity season. First, sights were set on earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time in school history. After the Tigers checked that off the list in 2010, a spot in the Sweet 16 was next. Archer accomplished that last season.
With a strong returning cast this year and a group of rising stars, the Tigers viewed themselves as state title contenders from the start of the season. “We have always made realistic goals as a program,” admitted Lesniak. “But with this year as a team, we knew we had the talent to make a run at a state championship and that has been the goal from Day 1.”
The Tigers are peaking at the right time and opened the playoffs with a blowout over West Forsyth before victories over with Roswell, North Forsyth and Lowndes. The Tigers won by an average of 19.5 points per game along the way.
Junior point guard Madison Newby is considered by Lesniak as “the heart and soul of the team” and averages 10.2 points per game while dishing out six assists. Madison’s younger sister Autumn is a 6-foot-2 freshman forward who averages 12.4 points per game and nine rebounds. Madison dropped a career-high 29 points in the 78-67 semifinals victory over Lowndes. Kayla Rogers, who owns the school record with a 30-point game, is a one of three players with more than 1,000 career points on this roster.
Junior Amber Skidgel, a UGA-commit, transferred from Hebron Christian this offseason and has fit in perfectly with the Tigers, averaging 12.4 points per game and shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc. On the defensive side, Alesha Mann, Tatiana Wayne and freshman Tia Shorter are the tone-setters for a unit that forces an average 22 turnovers a game, including 15 steals.
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