DACULA — The rubber match between the Gainesville and Habersham girls mirrored its two predecessors as far as margin of victory goes, but had a lot more at stake.
With a berth in the Class AAAAAA state tournament on the line, the fifth-seeded Lady Red Elephants outscored the fourth-seeded Lady Raiders 21-16 in the second half en route to a 33-28 win at Dacula.
With the victory, Gainesville (7-15) not only moved into the state tournament, but also the Region 8-AAAAAA tournament semifinals where it will take on the bracket’s No. 1 seed, Winder-Barrow, at 7 p.m. Friday at Dacula High School.
Gainesville, which dressed just six players for the game and played only five, got a game-high 16 points from Tija Blackwell, six from Sadie Roach and five from Jada Harrison. Lauren Teasley and Kyra Buffen had four and two points respectively.
Habersham (5-21) was led by senior Halle Black with eight points, while fellow senior McKenzie McDuffie and sophomore Heather Vaughn had six each.
The Lady Raiders' season is now complete.
