Jasmin Askew shot Woodland into a 32-31 lead with 27 seconds remaining and Marissa Dubose grabbed a rebound with 11 seconds showing to stop South Paulding in its tracks and help the Lady Wildcats to their second region win against no losses Tuesday night.

Woodland took the victory by a 34-31 margin, the final two points coming after Dubose passed the ball to Kennedy Robinson, who was fouled with four seconds remaining and calmly added two insurance points.

Those points looked especially big three seconds later when South Paulding’s Natasha Banks threw up a prayer from just inside the midcourt marker but, ultimately, were unneeded when the ball took a strong bounce out of the iron and careened harmlessly away.

Woodland coach Colman Roberts said the win was big because it gives his players a perfect start in Region 5A-AAAAA.

“We won and we’re 2-0 in the region,” he said. “We’re excited about that. We haven’t had much things to be excited about the past couple of years but now they’re excited.”

He noted the Lady Wildcats had to work for the victory.

“I’m proud of them coming back and winning,” Roberts said. “They didn’t panic. They fought hard. We’ve faced four straight teams that did a little half court pressure and we’ve got to get better at it. That includes me.”

He also praised Dubose’s play near the end of the game.

“That’s a big rebound by Marissa and she pulled it back out,” he said. “She pulled it out whereas in the past we would have tried to score instead of ... making them foul us. It was a very smart play after she got a big rebound.”

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