Macy Hawkins stood at the foul line with four tenths of a second left on the clock at Union County High School in Blairsville Saturday afternoon.
Looming high above her was the scoreboard showing the 47-47 tie between Fannin County’s Lady Rebels and their hosts, the Lady Panthers.
The Fannin senior had two chances to secure a victory. The first bounced harmlessly off the rim.
Union County’s coach called a time out, looking to “ice” Hawkins with the hopes of sending the game into overtime.
Instead, Hawkins’ second free throw found the bottom of the net for a 48-47 Fannin County win, while at the same time giving her mother, Vera, perhaps the best birthday present she could have expected.
The entire game had provided the same kind of excitement as the final seconds.
Union County came out determined to avenge their December 68-50 loss to the Lady Rebels.
The Lady Panthers controlled the opening tip, but a minute and a half of back-and-forth defense lapsed before the hosts took a 2-0 lead.
Reese Lewis tossed in a free throw at the six minute mark and Courtney Davis hit a turnaround jumper moments later to pull Fannin to within one at 4-3. The fight was on.
Davis and Lewis set the offensive pace for Fannin with four and three points respectively, but the first eight minutes ended with Union County holding a 10-7 lead.
The next eight minutes belonged to the Lady Rebels.
Izzie Jabaley netted a three on the first shot of the second quarter to tie the game at 10-10. Davis then took charge with seven straight points of her own to put Fannin ahead 17-14. When the half ended, Callie Ensley’s free throw had given Fannin a 23-22 lead going into the locker room.
Union opened the second half with a three to go up 25-23 before Davis tied the score and Hawkins tossed in two points, putting the Lady Rebels back on top 27-25.
Lewis gave Fannin County its biggest lead of the game when her two-point shot put the Lady Rebels ahead 36-30 with 1:16 on the clock. The third quarter ended at 36-33.
Fannin’s fourth quarter belonged to Davis from the foul line as she went four-for-four in addition to a two-pointer. Lewis and Maggie Ledford scored two points each from the field and Callie Ensley put in a free throw. Hawkins’ game winner resulted in Fannin’s 12-point quarter to Union’s come from behind effort of 14 points.
Davis led the way for Fannin with a total of 27 points. She was followed by Lewis with seven, Jabaley with five, Ensley with four, Hawkins with three, and Ledford with two points.