Grayson girls remain perfect; win GHSA Class 7A state title

Undefeated Rams easily handle North Paulding in state championship game

MACON, GEORGIA – The state of Georgia’s most dominant team has its state championship.

With a chance to both complete a perfect season and win their first state championship in school history, the Grayson girls basketball team dominated its rematch against North Paulding in Saturday night’s Class 7A state championship, winning the game 65-44, at the Macon Centerplex.

After beating the Wolfpack by 38 points earlier this season, the Rams’ 21-point victory Saturday night is the biggest margin of victory in a state championship on the girls side this season.

Georgia Tech signee Danielle Carnegie led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting while fellow senior Erin Rodgers scored 18 on an impressive 7 of 11 shooting against the Wolfpack. Tatum Brown joined them in double figures with 14 points and Malaya Jones scored 10 in the win.

The game was won and lost in the first half.

The Grayson girls basketball team completed and undefeated season with an easy 65-44 win over North Paulding in the GHSA Class 7A state final

A quiet first five minutes for both teams quickly turned into a big run for the Rams (32-0), who ended the first quarter out-scoring the Wolfpack 17-3 over the final 3:01 of play.

The run saw several Rams contribute, but saw the bulk of the points come from Carnegie and Brown, who combined to score 10 of their 17 points.

In a game that saw Grayson leading just 4-2 with just over three minutes left in the opening quarter, their big run gave the Rams a commanding 21-5 lead heading into the second, a deficit the Wolfpack could not overcome.

Leading by 16 points heading into the second quarter, the Wolfpack did everything it could to eat into the Rams’ big lead, but to no avail.

The Rams continued to pull away, out-scoring the Wolfpack 16-9 in the quarter and took a 37-14 lead into the break.

Brown led all scorers with 12 points while Carnegie was close behind with 10 points.

Looking for a spark, the Wolfpack got one to start the third quarter. Six straight points and lockdown defense on the other end cut into the Rams’ lead momentarily.

But with Grayson having built a buffer of more than 20 points in the first half, it didn’t take long for Carnegie and the Rams to answer back.

Five straight points from the star senior, a baseline layup and a stepback three-pointer extended the Rams lead back out to 20 points, 44-24 with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter.

After regaining some momentum, the Rams ended the quarter on an 11-5 run to take a 50-29 lead into the fourth with Carnegie leading all scorers with 15 points.

The victory for the Rams completes a perfect 32-0 season for the Rams, who ended the season ranked inside the Top 10 nationally.