Cherokee Bluff stuns Bravettes in AAA finals

Published 7:44 pm Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The final score of a basketball game tells you the winner.

Then one must look at other numbers to see what might have led to that final total.

On Wednesday at the Macon Coliseum, the Cherokee Bluff High Bears denied Baldwin High’s Bravettes a repeat of state glory winning the Class AAA final by a score of 66-58.

The rebounding numbers would have told a different story, for Baldwin’s superior height advantage led to an almost double of the Cherokee Bluff totals on the boards. That’s 49 for Baldwin, 25 for the Bears from Flowery Branch.

It’s important to dominate the glass. But it’s also important to protect the basketball.

The turnovers, that’s a number that will haunt the Bravette staff led by one of the program’s former players, Kizzi Walker. Baldwin committed 20, so many coming in the second half that switched the game to Cherokee Bluff.

The Bears only lost possession eight times, and they scored 23 points off the Baldwin miscues.

The Cherokee Bluff guard tandem of sophomore Bristol Kersh and junior Claire Carlson paced their team to victory as both shot 7-for-16 from the floor. Carlson had 23 points and Kersh 22, Kersh adding seven assists.

For the Baldwin senior class, Janaye Walker had 21 points and 21 rebounds and Kassidy Neal had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Suri Clark did the double-double thing again in the postseason with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Zuri Grant also scored 11.

This was Baldwin’s third straight year in the girls finals with last year’s AAAA win over Hardaway the only championship. Kizzi Walker said afterwards she challenged this team to get back to Macon and was indeed proud to be one of only two teams to last to the end in AAA.

“We did not play our best game,” she said. “I think we thought they were going to lay down and give it to us. I told them this was their first year here and they want to be champions. I don’t think it registered. (Cherokee Bluff) wanted it more.”

Neal did something uncharacteristic for Baldwin basketball: launch 3-point shots at the onset. She launched two, and with Clark scoring eight of her points the Bravettes were ahead 14-7. Cherokee Bluff appeared to be struggling with the Coliseum dimensions, but then a 3-pointer fell for the Bears late in the opening quarter.

Baldwin turned the ball over with 40 seconds on the clock, but it became a jump ball inside with the arrow in its favor. However, another quick turnover followed and Cherokee Bluff scored on a pass inside. That completed a 5-0 run to end the period with the Bravettes in front 14-12.

It was a big beginning for the Bears in the second period, two more takeaways and their second 3-ball of the game. In all, Cherokee Bluff scored 10 in a row to lead 17-14, but one momentum shift was followed by another, and that’s because the Baldwin inside game emerged in a big way.

Janaye Walker had yet to make her presence felt, then came her first stick-back score. It resulted in a three-point play, and it was the first of three field goals on second shots for Baldwin. Walker had two and Neal one, her’s also putting her on the foul line. It was a 12-0 Baldwin run, one Cherokee Bluff didn’t stop until 3:46 before halftime.

Grant’s first 3-pointer resulted in Baldwin’s largest lead, 29-19. Neal and Walker accounted for four more points as the Bears again struggled with their outside shots. But when you think Cherokee Bluff can’t figure out the depth anymore, a 3-pointer goes in, and it brought the Bears within six, 33-27, at the break.

The Carlson-Kersh combination came out in the second half playing with a purpose. Though Neal began the third quarter with her third 3-pointer, Kersh had a steal and score in her team’s 7-2 run. Walker responded with her second three-point play from the offensive glass.

Cherokee Bluff had three 3-pointers in the third quarter, but it was more about the turnovers that put it ahead for good. At 2:40, Kersh penetrated to score after a steal in the paint. Down by two, Carlson drained 3 that made it 43-42 Bears.

Walker blocked a shot after another Kersh steal, but Cherokee Bluff got possession back and a subsequent basket. To close out the quarter, Walker’s outlet went to Neal, and she dribbled all the way to score one for last lead change in Baldwin’s favor at 46-45. The Bears answered at the buzzer to go up 47-46 with the decisive fourth quarter to play.

The Bravettes know how to rally in championship games as they did one year ago to top Hardaway. But the fourth began with a turnover and Carlson score. Carlson also had an overplay steal as part of a 7-0 Bears run. She even pulled off a bit of a shocker, blocking the bigger Walker.

But Walker would not stay quiet, getting Baldwin on the board finally in the fourth with a putback. It was 54-48, and Kersh’s penetration enabled her team to answer any Baldwin challenge. Neal’s assist to Walker made it 58-53, but Kersh found Emery Jones, who had 14 points, to match it.

With 53 seconds to play, Grant sank her second 3 making it a four-point game, 62-58, but Cherokee Bluff iced the victory with four made shots at the foul line.