McEachern Falls in State Title Game

For the Lady Indians, their 2010-11 basketball season ended the same way it started: with a loss to Norcross.

The Lady Indians began in November with a 56-51 loss to the Lady Blue Devils. On a much bigger stage Friday, Norcross upended McEachern again. Largely thanks to a 23-2 second quarter run, Norcross laid claim to its second straight state championship with a 61-36 title game victory over McEachern.

"That's a great team out there that we lost to," McEachern head coach Phyllis Arthur said after the game. "I'm proud of our team. Fifty-nine other teams would have loved to be in our shoes."

McEachern went toe-to-toe with Norcross in the first quarter, fighting the Lady Blue Devils to a 9-9 draw. Dominique Wilson scored five first-period points for the Lady Indians.

After the first quarter, though, things went sour for McEachern. Norcross exploded out of the gate in the second quarter with a 23-2 run that effectively put the game away.

Defensively, McEachern had no answer for Lady Blue Devil sophomore Diamond DeShields, who scored 14 points during the crushing run. DeShields—the daughter of former major league baseball player Delino—totaled 20 points in the first half.

On the offensive end, the Lady Indians turned the ball over 11 times in the second quarter.

"They played great defense," Arthur said of Norcross' second quarter effort. "They didn't let up, and we couldn't find an open shot."

McEachern trailed by 17 points at the break. The Lady Indians were able to trim the deficit down to 13 on two occasions, but they would get no closer.

The loss may have been lopsided, but Arthur still had plenty of good things to say about her team.

"We’ve made history at McEachern," an emotional Arthur said after the game. "This is the furthest any girls team has ever gone. I'm very proud of the young ladies on my team, and I'm proud of the coaches."

Besides DeShields game-high 27 points, Norcross (29-3) also got solid games from Alex DeMercy and Shayla Cooper. DeMercy, a senior, finished her high school career with a nine-point night, while Cooper added eight.

For the , Patches Roberts led the Lady Indians in scoring. The junior finished her night with 14 points.

Dominique Wilson, also a junior, was the only other Lady Indian to reach double digits with 10. McEachern senior Brittany Hodges finished her high school career with a four-point night.

The Lady Indians wrap up the season with a record of 25-7.