On to the next one

CAMILLA — The speech was simple: Start playing or get ready to turn in your jersey.

That’s roughly what Telly Turner told her Albany girls basketball team at halftime Tuesday.

“I just told them, if you lose you go home,” Turner said. “I think it became reality to us in the third quarter. If we didn’t pick it up, it was over.”

Albany will play another day — actually, make that another week. That’s what Tuesday’s 53-48 comeback victory against Early County at Mitchell County meant to the Squaws, who not only advanced to the semifinals of the Region 1-AA tournament Thursday in Thomasville, but locked up a berth in next week’s state tournament.

Early, which had to win Monday and Tuesday to stay alive, saw its season end despite the efforts of Herald Super 6er Nett Reed and teammate Shay Williams. They combined for 37 points as Reed led the way with 19.

“We came out slow, but give credit to Early. (Reed and Williams) really stepped it up for them,” Turner said. “I could tell they didn’t want it to end.”

It didn’t end until after a frantic ending to a furious fourth quarter. It was still knotted 48-48 when Albany’s Kizzie Coleman came up with the steal that turned things around. Coleman zipped a long pass to Jasmine Myers, but Reed knocked it away. That’s when Briana Williams showed up just in time to grab the loose ball on the run and bank in a shot to give Albany to a 50-48 lead with 2:03 left.

Myers followed that play with a steal, but Albany missed three shots in the paint. Coleman then came up with another steal as Early turned the ball over five times in the final minutes. Myers finally hit a free throw to give Albany a 51-48 lead. Reed tried to tie things with a 3 that just bounced off the back of the rim with 10 seconds left. Early’s fifth turnover gave Coleman a chance to make a pair of free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.

“At the end, we started playing Squaw-ball,” said Myers, who led Albany with 18 points, including 13 in the second half. “They came out with more energy. They out-hustled us in the first half.”

Early had lost to Albany twice during the regular season — 56-43, and 63-48 — but no one would have known it Tuesday. Williams scored 12 first-quarter points and Reed busted a 3 at the buzzer for a 19-14 lead. The Lady Bobcats built the lead to seven points (25-18) before Chastity Mullins started leading the Albany comeback.

Mullins had a personal seven-point run in the second quarter to close 27-25, before Alyssa Walton’s putback at the buzzer gave Early the 29-25 halftime cushion. Early hung on to a 39-38 lead after three quarters but Myers scored four quick points to start the fourth for Albany, which never trailed again.

Mullins, a shooting guard, had a remarkable day, grabbing 13 rebounds. She scored 15 points, made three steals and blocked a shot.

“She’s our best rebounder,” Turner said. “She crashes the boards. Her rebounding throughout the game kept us in it.”

Albany’s free-throw shooting almost kept the Squaws out of it. They made only 5-of-18 free throws in the second half.

Still, Albany (12-9), which hadn’t played for 10 days, came back and now faces top-seeded Thomasville in Thomasville at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

“It was going to be the end if we lost,” Mullins said. “That’s what coach told us at halftime. Nobody wanted it to end.”