Lady Herons beat Lamar County for 12th straight playoff victory
BARNESVILLE — Brantley County’s twotime defending champion Lady Herons reached the “Elite 8” of the Class A DI tennis tournament after beating host Lamar County 3-0.
It’s the ninth consecutive year (2017-26) the 14th-seed Lady Herons (12-11) have advanced to the quarterfinals and 12th time overall.
The Wednesday, April 29 win over the thirdseed Lady Trojans (11-5) improved BCHS’s record to 12-5 in “Sweet 16” matchups with a ninth consecutive victory.
Brantley County was one game away from a victory Tuesday, April 28 when rain forced the Lady Herons to make a return trip.
The Lady Herons traveled Tuesday, May 5 to Rome putting their 12-match playoff winning streak on the line in a quarterfinal match against sixth-seed Model (16-5). BCHS is 3916 all-time in the state tournament.
The Lady Blue Devils have won five of its last six matches with post-season wins over 27thseed Haralson County and 11th-seed Fannin County.
BCHS has won its last three “Elite 8” matches to improve to 4-7 all-time with a “Final Four” berth at stake.
Two matches were completed at the time of the rain with the Lady Herons leading 2-0 and up a set in the other three matches.
Haley Smith won at No. 1 singles recording a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Kylee Kington. The No. 1 doubles duo of Emersyn Payne and Kynli Flowers posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Taryn Dender and Addison Swatts.
The No. 2 tandem of Bri Crews and Sara Kate Rentz led 6-1, 5-2 over Alaina Bonacci and Caroline Garda when weather forced the postponement. They would win the set a day later.
At No. 2 singles, Adalyn Lattanzie was up a set and trailed in the second 6-2, 0-2 to Brailey Grubbs. Lattanzie battled back to 2-2 when the match was topped after Crews sealed the victory.
Mary Drury led Sydney Bacon 6-3, 4-0 at No. 3. Drury added one victory in the second set when play resumed and was stopped to celebrate.
