Lady Trojans lose to Lakeview in final

Published 8:30 pm Friday, February 28, 2025

COLUMBUS – Making the program’s first state finals appearance since 1990, John Milledge Academy girls basketball ran into a buzzsaw Friday.

The scrappy seventh-seeded Lady Trojans could not handle the athletic play and height of the top-ranked Lakeview Academy Lady Lions, who dominated the GIAA Class AAA championship bout 70-29 at Columbus State University.

Gainesville school Lakeview (22-7) won its second consecutive title by spreading the scoring around with four different players reaching double figures. John Milledge, meanwhile, had trouble getting organized offensively against the Lady Lions’ pressure defense. No JMA player managed more than seven points in the championship loss.

“They had us when it came to most of the tangible things, but we were trying to play with our intangibles – heart, effort, and grit – because that’s what got us this far,” Lady Trojans head coach Jordan Walters said.

Those three attributes weren’t enough to offset Lakeview’s talent on the floor. The lopsided nature of the matchup was apparent from the start. A missed shot on the John Milledge end turned into a quick outlet for the Lady Lions. Tall Taliah Gaither was the recipient as she ran down the court and finished with a left-handed reverse. The senior post player was fouled on the play, and made good on the opportunity from the line to gather three of her 11 and start the scoring. The Lady Trojans did answer in the form of their own and-one as senior Kylie Steinmeyer muscled her way through defenders’ arms in the paint for a three-point play the hard way.

The rest of the half belonged to the eventual state champions, though. They full-court pressed then pressured hard with their man-to-man defense, oftentimes never allowing JMA to get into its offense.

“Their press was very well-executed,” said Walters. “We had prepared for it knowing it was going to be tough.”

Whether forcing turnovers or running their own halfcourt offense, Lakeview’s points came naturally. They shot out to a 22-7 lead after one and a 40-17 advantage by halftime. The Lady Lions also got John Milledge senior center Calah Foston into foul trouble. She had two whistles against her three minutes into the ballgame, and a third came about midway through the second. That didn’t make it any easier to contend with the height of Lakeview’s 6-foot-2 Gaither and 6-4 junior Jadeah Marshall.

The Lady Lions’ lead only extended after halftime, making the final two quarters more of a coronation than a contest.

Lakeview was led in scoring by senior Dynesty Putnam’s 15. Junior Emyrie Combs, sophomore Taylor Clark, and Gaither all had 11 apiece.

John Milledge was paced by Steinmeyer and junior Addie Latimer, who had seven points each. Eleventh-grader Brinley Rollins provided a bit of a spark with two treys late in the second quarter.

The state runner-up Lady Trojans overachieved by basically every measure this season. They entered Friday’s final with a 13-15 record, had a new head coach, and replaced four starters from last year’s state semifinal run. Two of those players were 1,000-point scorers, so Walters’ team had to find points in different ways. The JMA girls did so with hustle, which helped them to back-to-back playoff upsets to reach the championship game. Success may not have always been there in the regular season, but they battled down the stretch to give the program a fifth Final Four in the last six seasons and John Milledge girls basketball’s first finals berth since ‘90. It’s a good legacy to leave for the senior trio of Foston, Steinmeyer, and Lucy Elliott.

“I could not be prouder,” Walters said. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I think the growth physically and mentally from these girls, even over the last six weeks, has been phenomenal. I don’t know what clicked, but I think they just bought in and started to believe in themselves and each other more than they had in previous years and the beginning of this season. I had multiple coaches telling me we were playing our best ball at the end of the year, and you can’t ask for more than that.”