Coppin Academy trailed host Western Tech 50-49 after the Wolverines’ Destiny Ward hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles scored six of the final seven points and escaped with a 55-51 win in the Class 1A North Region I title game.

The win sends Coppin (17-5) to the state quarterfinals. Western Tech ended its season with an 18-5 mark.

A 3-pointer by Tahae Galloway (eight points) with 1:55 left gave Coppin a 52-50 lead and she added a free throw with 1:27 left for a 53-50 lead. The Wolverines appeared to tie it on a layup with 1:10 to play, but a three-second violation was called.

Western Tech’s Tiffany Manning (nine points) answered with a free throw with 21 seconds left, but the Eagles sealed it on free throws by Henderson and Nyshae Weaver (10 points).

Henderson had made a big play earlier in the quarter with a steal and fast-break bucket that put the Eagles ahead 49-47 with 2:20 remaining.

“That was the turnaround of the game right there,” Coppin coach Ulysses Hardy said.

Coppin built a 13-point lead and took a 30-20 lead into halftime. Jayln Richardson (team-high 16 points) led the Eagles in the first half with 12 points and Manning led the Wolverines with eight.

Manning, the school’s all-time leading scorer with well over 1,000 points, was held by Richardson to one point in the second half, but her defense and hustle, including six steals, sparked a second-half rally that turned a 10-point deficit into a seven-point Western Tech lead in the fourth quarter.

“That’s what we try to do is trigger up the defense,” Western Tech coach Alan Lagon said.

Western Tech’s comeback was spearheaded by Destini Ward and Sydney Stokes.

Stokes had five assists and Ward scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half. They also got contributions off the bench from Maya Britton and Imani Gross (four points each).

Western Tech outscored the Eagles 28-8 in the third quarter and Ward’s basket tied it at 38 going into the final stanza.

Ward, a sophomore, got even hotter in the fourth quarter when she canned three treys and scored 12 points.

Her second 3-pointer gave the Wolverines a 46-39 lead with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter. At that point, Coppin clawed back with defense focusing on Ward and Manning.

“I felt like we had to rise to the occasion,” Richardson said. “I definitely felt we had to come back harder just because we were up didn’t mean anything.”

Down seven, Coppin started its comeback with two baskets by Aniya Hills (eight points), making it 46-43. A basket by Henderson and steal and chippie by Richardson capped an 8-1 run that got the Eagles back in the game.

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C — Jayln Richardson 16, Kayla Henderson 10, Nyshae Weaver 10, Tahae Galloway 8, Aniya Hills 8, Arries Ealy 3.

WT — Destini Ward 22, Sydney Stokes 12, Tiffany Manning 9, Maya Britton 4, Imani Gross 4.

Halftime: Coppin, 30-20