This game is the reason the word "classic" is included in the title of "GreenBank Ladies' Classic." In a tournament that featured several huge comebacks, none came at a more opportune time than South Greene’s, who overcame a 19-point deficit with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of the championship game against Wilson Central to tie the contest and force overtime.

Unfortunately for the Lady Rebels, Wilson Central’s Kelsey McGee knocked down two free throws with eight seconds left in the extra period and the Wildcats survived a 71-69 thriller to earn their second straight Classic crown.

“They are just so hard to defend,” South Greene Coach Derek Dyer said of Wilson Central and the state’s reigning Miss Basketball winner and Georgia commitment 6-3 Jasmine Hassell. “But we never quit. It would have been easy to just hang it up there in the fourth when we were 20 behind. But good things happen if you play hard, and the girls just played as hard as they could and we got back in it and had a chance to win. I’m proud of them. We were able to beat one of the best teams in the state last night in Morristown West, and we took another one tonight right down to the end.”

Hassell, named the tournament most valuable player for the second straight season, had a double-double by halftime, scoring 19 points and hauling in 11 rebounds in the first half as the Wildcats put on a clinic of how to operate a post offense. She finished the night with 34 points and 19 rebounds.

Her sophomore sister, Ieshia, also hit a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

But the Rebels had firepower of their own. Junior point guard Rechelle Dye scored 26 points, including 15 points in a row in the fourth quarter when the Rebels were making their amazing comeback. She fouled out with 3:14 left in regulation and her team still behind by a 59-55 margin.

But sophomore Ansley Ricker picked up the slack in running the offense, and sophomore Shelby Hicks and reserve sophomore Ashley Tweed both did well against the superior inside strength of the Wildcats. Tweed saw plenty of action after starter Megan Casteel fouled out of the game only 13 seconds after Dye left the floor.

In addition, the defense of senior Brittany Kinser down the stretch was a key as she smacked a number of balls free from the Wildcats, who suddenly looked human after they saw their huge lead evaporate and a capacity pro-Rebel crowd going wild.

“Rechelle just took over for a while there,” Dyer said. “She can do that. We got a few turnovers and were able to hit some shots.”

The crowd just kept getting louder and louder as the Wilson Central lead disappeared, and with two minutes left a rebound putback by Hicks tied the score at 61-61. Hicks also converted two pressure free throws with 56 seconds left that tied the count at 65-65. The Rebels had the final shot of regulation after a Wilson Central turnover with 21 seconds left, but the shot wouldn’t fall, forcing OT.

South Greene got its first lead of the night with 3:04 left in overtime when Ricker knocked down to free tosses for a 67-66 lead, but that would be their only lead of the game. Jasmine Hassell’s rebound bucket put her team back in front and a free throw with 2:04 left had the Wildcats up by 69-67. But again Ricker swished in two free throws to tie it at 69-69 with 1:47 to go.

The game was cat-and-mouse the rest of the way. The Rebels had the ball with 33 seconds left and called time to set up a play. But again a shot went awry, McGee rebounded with eight seconds left and was fouled, and her two free throws proved to be the difference.

Ricker finished with 14 points for the Rebs and Hicks got 12 points and nine boards. In addition to her 26 points, Dye had six assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Wilson Central (71): Jasmine Hassell 13-21 8-10 34, McGee 2-5 3-5 7, Ieshia Hassell 8-14 7-15 23, Peterson 1-2 0-0 3, Wasson 0-1 1-3 1, Vanlandingham 0-1 0-0 0, Wright 1-2 0-1 3. TOTALS: 25-46 19-34 71.

South Greene (69): Rechelle Dye 8-14 6-9 26, Ansley Ricker 3-15 7-9 14, Kinser 2-6 0-0 4, Casteel 1-4 0-0 3, Shelby Hicks 5-10 2-3 12, Crum 2-10 1-2 6, Tweed 1-1 2-2 4, Sizemore 0-0 0-0 0, Baxley 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-60 18-25 69.

3-Point Goals: WC-2 (Peterson, Wright). SG-7 (Dye 4, Ricker, Casteel, Crum).

Score by quarters:

Wilson Central 21 19 15 10 6--71

South Greene 11 12 15 27 4--69