The Carrollton Lady Trojans were down by ten going into the fourth quarter against North Paulding, but they made an unbelievable comeback to win 44-43.

Carrollton struggled in the first three quarters, but they were near perfect on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter. The perseverance of the Lady Trojans was inspiring, and they are now one of eight teams left in the GHSA Class 6A state playoffs.

Miyah Holmes led the way for Carrollton with 21 points. She was the driving force for Carrollton in the fourth quarter. She scored the game tying basket with just over a minute to go, and her shut-down defense in the paint was what held the North Paulding offense back.

The first quarter was a massive struggle for both teams offensively as neither team scored in the first minute and Carrollton did not score for the first two and a half minutes.

North Paulding had the slight edge in the first quarter thanks to their ability to rebound. It seemed that almost every North Paulding drive, they had an opportunity for second chance points.

Despite their struggle to score and rebound, Carrollton’s defense kept it close as North Paulding was only up 10-8 going into the second quarter.

In an attempt to change momentum, Carrollton began running a full court press. While that did allow Carrollton to take their first lead of the night, North Paulding quickly adapted and exploded offensively.

Carrollton’s defense had almost no answer as North Paulding players effortlessly drove down the court. The only thing that saved Carrollton was a few tipped passes that either led to turnovers or disrupted North Paulding’s momentum.

North Paulding at one point went on a 10-2 run that silenced any bright spots Carrollton had. The Trojans were down 24-15 going into the half, which at the time was North Paulding’s biggest lead of the night.

Not much changed when both teams returned to the floor.

While Carrollton did bring the lead down to five, they began getting aggressive on offense by forcing up ill-advised shot attempts. North Paulding picked up the slack and got back to their form. They were outpacing Carrollton and got their lead up to double digits, 36-26, heading into the final quarter.

Carrollton needed to flip the switch, and that is exactly what happened. A few minutes into the quarter, Carrollton scored nine unanswered points to make the score a one possession lead, 37-40, with four minutes to go.

North Paulding missed multiple free throws, and that gave Carrollton the perfect window they needed.

Holmes converted an and-one play to tie the game at 42 with two minutes left. Madison Reese made a layup with just over a minute to go to give Carrollton its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Carrollton was trying their best to keep North Paulding from tying the game, but there were a couple obstacles.

Firstly, a North Paulding player was fouled while shooting with 30 seconds left. If both free throws were good, the game would be tied. Luck struck for Carrollton as the player missed her first free throw but made the second.

While it seemed all Carrollton had to do was inbound the ball and get fouled, the Trojans hit another snag, as they turned the ball over on a jump ball.

North Paulding would have a chance to win the game, and they got a decent look from the final shot, but it was no good as Carrollton survived with a 44-43 win.

With their win, Carrollton advances to the Elite Eight of the GHSA Class 6A State Playoffs. They will travel to face North Forsyth on Feb. 25 in hopes of reaching the Final Four.