MURRAYVILLE - North Hall's Caitlyn Tilson watched nervously as the ball bounced, bounced, and then bounced again on the rim.
But once it trickled through the net with 8 seconds left, Tilson's off-balance layup gave the Lady Trojans a dramatic 53-52 come-from-behind win over No. 9 Flowery Branch Friday afternoon at North Hall.
"I was nervous watching it. I was afraid it was going to bounce off but fortunately it went in," said Tilson, who scored four of her six points in the final two minutes. "It's a great feeling to hit a game-winning shot. I haven't done that since the seventh grade."
The win for North Hall (4-5) avenged a loss to the Lady Falcons (9-3) in their season opener. Flowery Branch also was coming off its first-ever Lanierland title just two weeks ago.
"This is a big win for us," North Hall coach Debbie Blake said. "We had some good practices over the holidays and I felt we were a better team than we showed before the break. Hopefully this will get us going."
Things did not look good for the Lady Trojans midway through the fourth quarter when star Megan Westmoreland fouled out with 20 of North Hall's 44 points at that point.
"I was a little scared not having her out there but the young girls need to realize that we need them to step up and they did a great job," Blake said.
Flowery Branch ran out to a 44-39 lead early in the fourth quarter which capped a 10-1 run. That followed a 12-2 North Hall run in the third quarter to give the Lady Trojans a 38-34 lead.
Both teams could have taken control at the foul line but neither team could convert.
North Hall won despite hitting just 14-of-29 from the free throw line. The Lady Falcons were not much better hitting just 16-of 26 foul shots.
After Westmoreland's 20, Lindsay Kitchens had 11 points and Brooke Smith 10 for North Hall.
Flowery Branch was led by freshman Courtney Newton's 24. Beth Adcock added 13 but leading scorer Kristina Tyler was held to just 6 points - all in the first quarter - before fouling out.
Saturday
July 5th, 2025
12:16AM
