MACON -- In another tightly-contested battle with St. Francis, Southwest Atlanta Christian was unable to hold off the Lady Knights, falling short 62-56 in overtime of the Class A (Private) State Championship at the Macon Coliseum on Saturday.

Senior Alexis Carter scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Lady Warriors’ second straight title-game loss.

Nettie Brown led the Lady Knights (23-8) with 22 points and fellow senior Nigia Greene and junior Candice Williams added 14 apiece for St. Francis, which claimed its first state championship in program history.

“They just played unbelievable, “ St. Francis girls’ basketball coach Aisha Kennedy said. “I’m so proud of them. This is a special team and I’ve been saying that since the beginning of the year. This is a huge moment for us.”

“It was intense and we knew it was going to be a war from the beginning,” said Greene, who will be play for Miami (FL) next year. “We were prepared. We prepared all week and we came out and got the win.”

But junior Jade Davis (six points) was the hero in the third meeting of the season between these two teams.

“Jade Davis, Jade Davis, Jade Davis,” said Brown on the podium. “I also just want to thank God.”

After Amber Brown missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with less than 14 seconds left in regulation, Davis converted a layup while being fouled to tie the score at 52-52 with just 7.8 ticks left.

Fortunately for SACA, Davis missed the ensuing foul shot, opening the door for Brown to redeem herself, but the swarming defense of the Lady Knights prevented from getting a shot off.

In the extra session, Amy Griffin made a layup to put the Lady Warriors ahead with 3:05 left, but St. Francis maintained the momentum by scoring the next 10 points (eight from the foul line) to claim its second straight victory over SACA (28-4).