Chloe Culpepper’s layup just before the final buzzer gave No. 5 ranked Stephenson a heart-stopping 55-53 victory over No. 4 ranked Sequoyah and a trip to the Class 5A girls’ Final Four in Fort Valley on Saturday.

Sequoyah had rallied from a 53-49 deficit behind a three-pointer by Peyton Satterfield to cut the lead to 53-52. Following a missed shot by the Lady Jaguars Sequoyah’s Lauren Hartman was fouled and went to the foul line with a one-and-one opportunity with 48 seconds to play.

Hartman hit the first free throw to tie the game at 53-53, but missed the second and Stephenson’s Culpepper pulled down the rebound. Stephenson moved the ball around the frontcourt and ran the clock down to 10.3 seconds before calling their final timeout.

Coming out of the timeout the Lady Jaguars got the ball in to senior guard Davion Wingate who faked a couple of drives and then went down the middle of the lane pulling Sequoyah’s defenders to her. She found Culpepper all alone at the basket for a nice pass for the easy layup as the clock ticked below one second to play.

Sequoyah did not have time to get the ball inbounds as the final buzzer went off sending the Stephenson players and bench into a big celebration.

Wingate was a big part of the comeback for the Lady Jaguars (26-5) as she pumped in 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half, including six in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Rhein Beamon and a three-point play by Wingate early in the quarter rallied Stephenson from a 43-40 deficit at the end of the third quarter to a 46-43 advantage.

Lauren Hartman had two big offensive rebounds for Sequoyah (27-4) and layups to give Sequoyah a 49-48 lead with just over four minutes to play.

Terrianna Cave joined Wingate in double figures for Stephenson with 14 points, including 8 big first half points to rally Stephenson from an early 5-0 deficit to a 26-22 halftime lead.

Hartman led Sequoyah with 13 points followed by Alyssa Cagle with 12, including 8 in the third quarter rally for the lead, and Megan Garcia with 11, including three three-pointers.

Stephenson advances to the Final Four for the first time since their run to the 2008 state title in the then largest classification Class 5A. The Lady Jaguars had lost in the quarter finals to DeKalb rival Southwest DeKalb the past two seasons.

Next up for Stephenson is a date in the first game of the Final Four at Fort Valley State against No. 8 Forest Park (28-4) which advanced to the Final Four with a thrilling win of its own 31-29 over Salem. Stephenson has defeated No. 1 Brunswick and No. 4 Sequoyah on the road and will face their third consecutive Top 10 ranked opponent at 3:00 pm on Saturday.

DeKalb State Tournament Results
Tuesday, Feb. 24
Stephenson (26-5) 55, Sequoyah (27-4) 53

DeKalb State Tournament Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 28
Class 5A Girls’ Final Four at Ft. Valley State
Stephenson (26-5) vs. Forest Park (28-4), 3:00 pm