ATLANTA, Ga. -- There's no shame in being beaten by the best, and that's exactly what happened to the Christian Heritage School girls basketball team on Tuesday.
The dynamic trio of Jillian Hollingshead, Kaila Hubbard and Kennedy Suttle combined for 46 points and nationally-ranked Holy Innocents' Episcopal School beat Christian Heritage 84-49 in the quarterfinals of the Class A Private state tournament.
Holy Innocents', which won its 26th consecutive game and moved to 28-1, advanced to the semifinals for the sixth consecutive season. The Bears, ranked No. 11 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 rankings, will attempt to reach the state final for the fifth straight year.
Christian Heritage, the No. 8 ranked team in Class A and in the Georgia High School Association Elite 8 for the first time in school history, finished 22-7.
"This season was truly special and exciting and I couldn't be more proud of my girls," said Christian Heritage coach Maggie Peeples. "They are fighters. All season long they matured and stepped up. I couldn't ask them for any more than that, and I'm truly grateful to be their coach."
Holy Innocents' took control with a dominant second-quarter stretch that saw the Lady Lions held without a point for nearly eight minutes.
That allowed Hollingshead to take over. The 6-4 freshman center had a short jumper in the lane and her offensive rebound led to Jada Farrell's put back early in the period. After that, Hubbard, Suttle and Farrell each added a lay-up, and by the time Hollingshead had put back her own miss at the 2:34 mark, the hosts had closed an 18-0 run and led 38-13.
Hollingshead scored 15 points, while seniors Suttle, a University of Pennsylvania signee, and Hubbard, a University of Georgia signee, combined for nine assists and added 18 and 13 points, respectively. Holy Innocents' had a bit of a scare when Hubbard left the game at the 3:21 mark of the second with an apparent leg injury, but the senior was back on the court to start the second half.
"Super talented and well-coached," Peeples said when asked about Holy Innocents'. "They had size and speed."
Kelsey Schneller was one of three Lions to hit a 3-pointer over the final two-plus minutes to help the Christian Heritage trim the halftime deficit to 45-24.
Schneller led Christian Heritage with 17 points, including knocking down five of the team's nine 3-pointers.
Holy Innocents' asserted itself right away, rolling out to a 10-0 cushion 2 1/2 minutes into the game. The Bears picked up four of their seven first-quarter steals, while Hollingshead had a pair of buckets and assisted on a baseline jumper by Kate Reddy during that early stretch.
Emily Idom, who was the only Lions' player in double-figures in the first half with 10, snapped Christian Heritage's scoreless start with a Madison Brown-assisted 3-pointer at the 5:12 mark of the opening quarter.
The Lions pulled to within 14-8 on a short jumper by Idom at the four-minute mark of the first, and it was a seven-point deficit on two occasions late in the quarter. The last instance came at the 1:28 mark when Idom's baseline runner made it 20-13.
That's as close as Christian Heritage would be the rest of the night.
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