High School Basketball Playoffs: Northview Girls Prepare For Home Opener

By Mike Blum

The Northview and Chattahoochee high school girls basketball teams begin play in the state AAAAAA tournament Friday, with the Titans hosting a game at home and Cougars hitting the road to take on a Douglas County opponent.

Northview, the top-ranked girls team in 6A, opens at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 against South Paulding (15-12), which finished fourth in its region in both the regular season and tournament. The Lady Spartans lost their semifinal and consolation tournament games by 25 and 30 points and have been ousted in the first round of their last three state appearances.

This will be the second straight state tournament appearance for Northview, which scored its only win at state in 2011. The Lady Titans have emerged as one of the state’s top teams this year with a team that includes three sophomores and a freshman among its top six players.

Northview is 25-3 on the season, sweeping its three tournament games to improve to 17-0 against Region 7-AAAAAA opponents. Versatile senior Shannon Titus and the inside duo of sophomores Ashlee Austin and Maya Richards lead the Lady Titans, who start freshman Asjah Inniss at point guard. Sophomore Makayla Davis started in the tournament for junior Megan Cistulli, who was sidelined with an injury.

The Lady Titans are 13-0 after losing two of three games in a holiday tournament in South Carolina, and other than a pair of tightly-contested games against region runner-up Alpharetta, have not been tested in that stretch.

Northview has a favorable bracket, with either Evans (13-13) or Valdosta (10-15) the Lady Titans’ second round opponent. Ninth-ranked Gainesville is the only other state top-10 team in Northview’s quarter of the draw.

Chattahoochee (21-6) will be playing a team making its first ever state tournament appearance, with New Manchester scoring a 55-54 upset in the region semifinals over Mays to reach the finals, where the Lady Jaguars lost 66-45 to Douglas County, ranked second in 6A.

New Manchester (16-11) sports a deep lineup that includes eight players averaging between four and nine points per game.

Chattahoochee relies mainly on the senior trio of sisters Siena and Marissa Gore, both guards, and post player Alayna Ford. Siena Gore is among the area’s leading scorers, averaging more than 20 points a game, with Ford the team’s main inside threat as well as being an effective three-point shooter.

The Lady Cougars finished in a three-way tie for second in Region 7-AAAAAA, and lost to Alpharetta in the tournament semifinals before winning in the consolation game over Pope. That victory enabled Chattahoochee to avoid a first round game at state No. 2 Douglas County.

If Chattahoochee can get past New Manchester, the Lady Cougars would likely play at No. 6 Grovetown in the second round Feb. 22.

Also qualifying for state are the Mount Pisgah boys, who got the last of 24 spots in the Class A private school field with an 8-16 record. The Patriots play Saturday at ninth seeded Holy Innocents' Episcopal School.

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