Three northeast Georgia area teams punched tickets into next week's Georgia High School Association state basketball finals Saturday.
(NOTE: Scroll down for scores from state semifinals involving area teams, as well as a schedule of next week's state championship games. Also, visit our high school sports page for in-depth game stories from semifinals in Carrollton and Fort Valley.)
The Buford and Flowery Branch girls both took impressive wins in the Class 5A tournament in Fort Valley and will head to Macon for an All-Region 8-AAAAA final. It will the fourth meeting of the season between the two region foes. The Lady Wolves won the first three, incuding the Region 8-AAAAA title game, but the winner of Thursday's 6 p.m. showdown in the Macon Centreplex will bring home a state title.
Buford fought past Villa Rica early on Saturday but pulled away for the 60-46 victory to reach its eighth state title game in 10 seasons.
The Lady Falcons also pulled off perhaps the greatest momentum swing of the day across the entire state, charging back from 15 points down in the first half to whip Harris County 72-55 and reach their first ever state championship game.
Meanwhile, in Carrollton, the Gainesville boys continued their domination of Class 6A rolling over Heritage-Conyers 102-86 to advance to their first championship game since 2013. The Red Elephants are looking for their first state title since winning back-to-back Class 3A titles in 1983 and 1984.
Both the Gainesville-Hughes and Buford-Flowery Branch title games will be broadcast on Jacobs Media airwaves. Both games will be carried on WDUN AM 550/1029 FM.
The North Forsyth girls were looking for their first-ever championship game berth but fell to No. 1 Westlake 52-44 at The Buford Arena.
STATE SEMIFINAL RESULTS, MARCH 3
Area teams in bold
CLASS 7A
Westlake 52, North Forsyth girls 44
CLASS 6A
Gainesville boys 102, Heritage, Conyers 86
CLASS 5A
Buford girls 60, Villa Rica 46
Flowery Branch girls 72, Harris County 55
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Area teams in bold
CLASS 6A - at Georgia Tech
8 p.m. March 9 - Gainesville boys vs. Langston Hughes -- WDUN AM 550 and 1029 FM
CLASS 5A - at Macon Coliseum
6 p.m. March 8 - Buford girls vs. Flowery Branch -- WDUN AM 550 and 1029 FM
