Bleckley girls basketball season ends in playoff loss to ACE

In a scrappy game with turnovers galore and bonuses for both teams in almost every quarter, the No. 16 Academy for Classical Education Gryphons claimed the school’s first-ever basketball playoff win Tuesday night when they defeated the No. 17 Bleckley County Royals 57-47 on their home court in Macon.

It was business as usual for the Gryphons (20-4), who had already defeated the Royals twice in the past few weeks, winning 56-44 back on Feb. 1 and then getting another victory 54-39 Feb. 7.

“With the power rankings, that could happen, you see a region opponent earlier,” ACE head coach Todd Whetsel said after the game. “If it was a traditional bracket, you wouldn’t see them until the Final Four. But if it was a traditional bracket, neither one of us would’ve been in the playoffs, so we’re grateful to be here.”

ACE and Bleckley both failed to make the semifinals of the Region 2-A Division I tournament, normally meaning elimination from the playoffs under the GHSA format used in past years. But with the possibility for at-large teams this time around, both schools had good enough records and resumes to get a playoff spot.

“Playing a team that’s in our region, it makes it even tougher, because they know your ins and outs,” Bleckley County head coach John Stanley said after the game. “With that being said, we have some older girls, but we have some younger girls coming back. We have two starters that were seniors, Amiyah Roberts and Jordan Mathis. The others will be back.

“Those two seniors will be greatly missed. It was a great season.”

Roberts was a key contributor for the Royals all year and made her presence known again Tuesday when she led her team with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Mathis was also a vocal team leader, according to the head coach.

“Then we have Kalyria Jones, she’s going to be phenomenal next year. This season was also big for her growth. She’s a junior, and she’ll step into those [seniors’] shoes,” Stanley said. “And we have Ava Jenkins coming back, she’s only a freshman.”

Jenkins finished with 12 points while Jones followed with 11, showing a glimpse of potential stars for Bleckley come next season.

Even with the three double-digit scorers, though, the Royals couldn’t get enough shots to fall against the Gryphons. They had a tough time containing ACE’s two sets of twins, as the seniors Karlee and Karsyn Yates made noise down low while the freshmen Khloie and Zhoie Stanley made things happen at the top of the key.

Khloie Stanley finished with 22 points for the Gryphons, with 15 of them coming in the second half.

Bleckley County also missed 10 free throws on the night — a reflection of their struggles shooting, but also an indicator of a night filled with lots of fouls. 

Some of those calls, particularly some shooting fouls and physicality on inbounds passes that caused Royals defenders to hit the deck, frustrated Stanley all evening.

“I know it happens, that’s a part of the game. But it was tough when I had to sit my starters at certain points in the game,” he said. “I think my team played great, because they could have lost their temper in a hard game. They played great.”

Despite the double-digit deficit at the final buzzer, Bleckley County kept it tight for most of the game thanks to defense and important 3-pointers.

The Royals came out of the gate scrappy, playing pesky defense and regularly picking ACE’s pocket at the top of the key to create opportunities. Even with a little poor shooting, Bleckley county was able to manufacture enough buckets for a 9-5 lead that felt a bit larger than four points with both teams turning the ball over.

The Gryphons got things moving before the quarter ran out, though, sinking some free throws and getting good ball movement from the Stanley twins to make it a 9-8 Bleckley lead going into the second quarter.

What little success shooting the Royals had quickly evaporated as ACE kept the ball at the perimeter for most of the period. Aside from a big three by Roberts, Bleckley County had to settle for free throws for most of their other points, and they struggled to hit more than one of two on most trips to the line.

ACE was inefficient from the charity stripe as well but made up for it with better shooting toward the end of the half. Both Yates twins had nice putbacks, and Karlee Yates knocked down two free throws to piece together a run that gave the Gryphons a 23-19 lead at the break.

ACE came out of the locker room shooting much better, sinking a couple 3-pointers and getting some layups in transition to eventually stretch the lead to double digits.

But every time it felt like the Gryphons might pull away for good, a Royal would knock something down, be it a pair of foul shots by Jenkins or another bucket from beyond the arc by Roberts.

Bleckley County, down by as many as 11 at points in the second half, used a key block by Jenkins and some quick transition points to get it to 45-40 with about four minutes remaining. 

But it wasn’t to be, as Karlee Yates stepped up for ACE in the final two minutes. First she knocked down a layup to make it 49-41, then she hit a smooth shot from beyond the arc that brought the crowd to its feet with about a minute-and-a-half to go, putting the game away for good.

The Gryphons will have to take a lengthy trip to North Georgia this Friday for the second round of the playoffs, as they’ll face No. 1-seeded Fannin County on the road.