Douglas County's Perfect Season Ends in Final Four

It took Douglas County three months to build its 30-win undefeated season; it only took seven minutes for it to come crashing down. Midway through the third quarter of Wednesday's AAAA state semifinal game against Forest Park, the Lady Tigers had a commanding 26-16 lead. Seven minutes and a 25-7 run later, Douglas County trailed 39-33, never to lead again as Forest Park held on to beat the Lady Tigers 56-47.

With Douglas County leading 26-16 in the third, Forest Park decided to change their defensive strategy, "We changed up our defense a little bit and went to a 2-2-1 half-court trap," Lady Panther coach Steven Cole said after the game. "That kept them away from the basket."

Douglas County coach Chet Forsh seemed to agree with Cole's assessment of the third quarter, "We didn't handle the trap well and we didn't shoot well," Forsh said after the game. "We were playing to not lose the ball as opposed to trying to score and attack the basket, we did not attack the basket."

Forsh didn't think it was a big deal that his team was playing from behind in the second half, something they only had to do twice all season, "We had played from behind before, so that wasn't the issue," Forsh said. "It might have been the big stage. [The Final Four] is a situation we've never been in before."

Even though it was an unfamiliar situation for the Lady Tigers, they were still able to explode out of the gate in the first half, jumping out to a 19-11 lead after two quarters.

Behind baskets from Amadi Brooks, Latara Spriggs and Christin Mercer, Douglas County quickly increased its halftime lead to 26-16 midway through he third quarter.

That's when the seven minutes of hell for Douglas County started as Forest Park began their 25-7 run. After the run – which put the Lady Panthers up 39-33 with 5:03 left in the game – the Lady Tigers weren't able to trim the lead to under six points.

Although it was a tough way to end the season, Forsh still was able to see the silver lining, "We had a great season," Forsh said after the game. "Nobody wins their last game except the state champions and unfortunately that's not us this year."

Douglas County's scoring leader was senior Kristina Wells who finished her high school career with 13 points. Teammate Amadi Brooks chipped in 10 while Kennesaw State bound Latara Spriggs added seven.

The trio of Ashlee Cole, Kayla Potts and Keyonna Allen did most of the damage for Forest Park. Potts, only a freshman, was the game's leading scorer with 17 points. Cole, the coach's daughter finished her night with 14, while Allen added 11.

Forest Park will play Chattahoochee or Fayette County on Friday for the AAAA state championship.