GAINESVILLE — The Chestatee and West Hall girls both advanced to the Region 7-AAAA finals Friday after taking big wins in the semifinals at the Chestatee gym.
Meanwhile, the White County and West Hall boys came up short of their finals goals with losses in the semifinal round.
The West Hall and Chestatee girls will meet at 5 p.m. Saturday at Chestatee in the championship game. Chestatee held off Blessed Trinity 46-43 while West Hall pulled away for a 45-32 victory over Marist.
On the boys side, the Warriors fell 49-29 to Marist while West Hall's late comeback against top seed Blessed Trinity came up just short in a 48-44 loss.
The Marist and Blessed Trinity boys will play at 6:30 p.m. for the boys title while West Hall and White County will play at 3:30 p.m. in the third place game.
CHESTATEE GIRLS 46
BLESSED TRINITY 43
Chestatee jumped to a quick lead in the first quarter behind a barrge of 3-pointers. The Lady War Eagles hit five treys in the opening period for a 19-8 lead.
Blessed Trinity closed to within 27-19 by halftime and inched a little closer in the third quarter trailing 35-28 heading to the final eight minutes.
The Lady Titans closed the gap in the fourth quarter as Chestatee hit just 5-of-8 free throws but the Lady War Eagles were able to hang on at the end.
Lindsey Caudell led Chestatee with 17 points. Dawndria Bell added 11 and Brooklyn Popham chipped in with 10 points.
Katie Hynekamp led Blssed Trinity with 14 points. Emma Rogers had 12 points for the Lady Titans.
WEST HALL GIRLS 45
MARIST 32
West Hall used an 18-8 first quarter to grab the lead and then cruised to the victory and a spot in the finals.
The defense was the key for the Lady Spartans, who did not yield double digits to the Lady War Eagles in any quarter. West Hall led 28-16 at halftime and 34-23 after the third quarter.
Macy Passmore led with 18 points, including 13 in the first half as the Lady Spartans built the quick lead. Anna McKendree added nine points and Megan English eight, all of hers coming in the second half.
Diarra Odem led Marist with nine points.
MARIST BOYS 49
WHITE COUNTY 29
Marist used a tough defensive effort to hold off the Warriors and into a spot in the region championship game.
The War Eagles outscored the Warriors 29-13 in the second half and held them to seven points or less in three of the four quarters.
The game was tied at 6-6 after the first quarter but Marist took a 20-16 lead into halftime. White County managed just two field goals and a pair of free throws in the third quarter as the War Eagles ran out to a 31-22 lead.
Marist blew it open in the final period outscoring the Warriors 18-7 down the stretch.
Joey O'Conner led Marist with 11 points. Whid Childs added nine points and Kyle Hamilton chipped in with eight points for the War Eagles.
John Ward paced White County with 15. Clay Dockery had seven points as the Warriors hit just one 3-pointer for the game.
BLESSED TRINITY BOYS 48
WEST HALL 44
The Titans moved into the finals on the strength of 19-8 third quarter spurt to erase a West Hall halftime lead.
The Spartans led 18-17 at intermission after holding Blessed Trinity to just two points in the first quarter. But the Titans, behind C.J. Adams, exploded for more points in the third quarter than they scored the entire first half to grab a 36-26 lead. Adams finished with 13 points to lead Blessed Trinity, with all of them coming in the second half.
West Hall inched back into the game in the fourth quarter but could not get closer than the final score.
Xzavier Reid led West Hall with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Noah Edmondson added 12 points for the Spartans.
West Hall will take on White County at 3:30 p.m. at Chestatee in the third place game.
