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Hewatt shines for Lady Dawgs in marathon thriller
FCHS girls 1 es
Christy Hewatt is fouled by Chamblee’s Briana Jones while attempting a shot in the second overtime. Central won a barn-burner, 78-72. - photo by Emily Saunders
The Dawg Pound was rocking Friday night, and Christy Hewatt was the lead singer.

Forsyth Central’s sophomore forward hit two game-saving shots and sparked her team through a double-overtime thriller, as the Lady Bulldogs gutted out a pulse-pounding 78-72 win over visiting Chamblee.

“My adrenaline’s so high. I can’t stop shaking,” Hewatt (game-high 35 points) said after the win.

After a nip-and-tuck second half, Chamblee backed Central (15-7 overall, 9-4 Region 6-AAAA) into a tight corner when Jasmine Camp (20 points) knocked down two free throws to put the visiting Bulldogs up 58-56 with five seconds left.

Rachael Tomlinson (11 points) took the inbounds the length of the floor for Central, penetrated below the basket, then found Hewatt just to her right, who hit the tying layup just as time expired.

“Rachael gave me an amazing pass. She just knew I was there, she didn’t even have to look at me. ... If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have made that basket at all,” Hewatt said, pointing out that the team wanted to win the senior night contest for Tomlinson, the only senior on Central’s roster.

“My heart was beating so fast. I just wanted to go run a mile. I was just so pumped and ready to go,” Hewatt said.

That wasn’t Central’s — or Hewatt’s — last cardiac moment.

With 18 seconds left in the first overtime, Chamblee’s Bre McDonald (28 points) was fouled on a jumper, allowing her to complete the old-fashioned three-point play and put Central in another hole, 65-63.

Again, it was Hewatt answering the bell, knocking down a layup with seven ticks left to force a second four-minute overtime.

Central managed to pull away a bit near the end of the “fifth” quarter, knocking down eight-of-11 free throws in the second OT to end the marathon.

“All year long I’ve challenged the girls, almost to the point where I felt like I might be putting too much pressure on them, but everytime I’ve done that, they’ve responded,” head coach Andy Martin said.

Martin said he schooled his team on the significance of the game ahead of time, pointing out that a win would clinch second place in the subregion.

He also noted that the team hasn’t lost two games in a row all year, a streak that was on the line after a one-point loss to Marist Tuesday.

“It didn’t faze them at all,” Martin said of any added significance he attached to the game.

 “They’re a really special group that just steps up and wants to play hard, and they know that’s the only way they’re going to get by and win, and they do it.”

Caylin Davenport was another sparkplug for Central, scoring 14 points in the first half en route to a 20-point performance.

Lucy Mason had 16 points for Chamblee.

Central will now compete in the Region 6-AAAA tournament, hosted by Miller Grove, with a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday.

E-mail BJ Corbitt at bjcorbitt@forsythnews.com.