BY DANIEL SCHMIDT | THE OBSERVER
AUBURN – In an area that seems to always come down to Auburn High School and Central High School, the 2025/26 season was no different as the Lady Tigers and Lady Red Devils met again for the girls’ 7A Area 4 championship.
This time, AHS (22-3, 6-0) was nearly flawless from the free throw line to secure a gritty 62-54 home win over CHS (16-11, 4-2) on Feb. 13. It is the sixth-straight area championship game the Lady Tigers have won over the Lady Red Devils.
After star point guard Braylee Winfrey found herself in foul trouble early on, AHS girls’ head coach Courtney Pritchett had to turn to his bench, namely Reagan Small, to fill in the gaps defensively. What he saw was encouraging ahead of the state tournament.
“I saw resilience, to have them kind of fight through adversity. We called on some kids that we don’t typically use that many minutes,” Pritchett said. “I want to enjoy this moment right now, and then I want to wipe it clean and focus on the fact that we need to win four more games. We’ve got to make history here at some point. And I feel like this is a team to be able to do it.”
Two games removed from tying a program record with nine three-pointers, junior guard and area tournament most valuable player Kayden Carr found herself called upon again to shoulder the offensive load.
“My threes weren’t going in, my shots weren’t going in, Braylee was in foul trouble, and post players weren’t really making their layups. So, I was like, ‘I have to do something.’ I wasn’t losing this game,” Carr said.
Unsurprisingly, the contest began evenly as AHS hit two quick three-pointers to keep them afloat while CHS relentlessly drove into the lane and finished near the rim. A physical final three minutes then slightly benefited the Lady Tigers, whose full-court press and size advantage helped secure a 19-14 lead.
AHS turned the heat in the second quarter, harassing the Lady Red Devils’ ball handlers and dominating in transition during a 9-3 run. Despite CHS’ effort to close the gap, the Lady Tigers kept their lead intact by making all seven free throw attempts and went into halftime up 34-23.
Entering the third quarter, the Lady Tigers found themselves in need of a spark to keep themselves ahead in the face of the Lady Red Devils’ own full-court press. Winfrey provided just that with slashing runs from the wings that helped stretch the Lady Tigers’ lead to 16 points at one point.
That set the stage for a tense, physical fourth quarter that saw CHS slowly shave away AHS’ 44-31 advantage down to seven points by the four-minute mark. However, Carr’s free throw shooting ability – making 15 of 17 attempts in the fourth quarter alone – provided the Lady Tigers with the edge and a win.
Carr finished as the game’s leading scorer with 25 points for the Lady Tigers, while Bella Paul and Winfrey chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jabria Lindsey led the Lady Red Devils with 22 points, and Marlicia Smith added 10 points.
