Lady Wolfpack, Lady Lions make it to state semi-finals

A season full of shattered records, upsets and good-old-fashioned winning came to an end Wednesday night for the Greenbrier girl's basketball team.

The same happened for the Augusta Christian Lady Lions, who saw their season come to and end Thursday in the SCISA state tournament Semifinals.

For the Lady Wolfpack, the winningest girls basketball team in the history of the county, the girls totaled 28 wins this season and reached the Class AAAA State Final Four for the first time in school history.

"I expected us to do this well this year," Greenbrier senior Melissa Lewis said. "To get back to the Elite Eight after last year was good. Then to beat Westside and make it to the Final Four - this season was a good one."

Greenbrier's state tournament run finally ended Wednesday night in Duluth, Ga., where Marist, ranked No. 1 in the state, beat the Lady Wolfpack 51-33.

The two teams saw four lead changes in the first quarter. Despite shooting only 30 percent from the field in the first half, Marist held a slim four-point advantage at halftime.

Marist forward Kristine Gleason hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend the lead to 10 points with under a minute to play in the third quarter. Her second long-distance shot came after she saved the ball at the block from going out of bounds. Gleason never used her dribble, but managed to end up at the 3-point line to knock down the shot.

"That was a big play," Greenbrier coach Garrett Black said. "It was walking. I don't care what they said. It gave them a 10-point lead and we were playing chase the rest of the way."

Marist outscored Greenbrier 13-5 in the fourth quarter to earn the win and a trip to the state finals.

Marist center Drey Mingo led with a game-high 21 points, while Michelle Swiec totalled 12 points in the loss.

For the Lady Wolfpack, their season ends with a 28-4 overall record.

"This was a giant leap for us this year," Black said. "The girls put this school on the map in basketball. It's certainly a step in the right direction."

The same holds true for the Augusta Christian girl's basketball team. Before this season, the 29-year old program had seen one state tournament win.

In the 2005-06 season, the Lady Lions earned two state tournament wins and finished the year with a 23-7 record.