STATESBORO — The Flowery Branch girls basketball team is back in the state quarterfinals for a second straight season after an impressive, 59-36 defeat of Statesboro in the second round of the Class AAAAA bracket in Statesboro.
"We just stuck to the gameplan, and I'm proud of how the girls played in a very hostile environment," Lady Falcons coach Courtney Newton-Gonzalez said. "(Statesboro) made some runs, but we countered every one of them, and we played a complete game tonight."
The Lady Falcons (23-6) jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead and continued to pull away, pushing ahead for a 33-20 halftime lead.
Flowery Branch turned up the defense in the third quarter, allowing just three points as the Lady Falcons increased their advantage to 39-23 and then cruised through the fourth quarter and back into the "Elite Eight."
"That's a huge accomplishment, and we're proud of that -- only the third time in school history we've been here," Newton-Gonzalez said.
Lexie Sengkhammee put up 18 points to pace the Branch, burying five 3-pointers on the night.
"Whenever she can do that that really opens up the paint for us," Newton-Gonzalez said. "And then Taniyah (Worth) was Taniyah on both ends, scoring points and grabbing some big rebouds. Julianne Sutton and Jonoah Williams also stepped up. Really everybody played their roles tonight and so many players played well."
Worth also finished with 14 points, while Sutton also scored 10 in the victory.
The Lady Falcons travel to face Carrollton on Tuesday in the quarterfinals, looking for their first-ever state semifinal berth.
"The girls still feel the loss from last year (in the quarterfinals), and they're hungry for more after being so close last year," said Newton-Gonzalez, who added that her Lady Falcons are prepping for another stern road test. "(Carrollton is) a great team; they only have one loss and that was to an out of state team. We know it'll be a battle, but we're up for the challenge."
