GAINESVILLE – North Hall was too hot to handle Friday in the semifinals of the Region 7-3A tournament at home.
The Lady Trojans (18-8) hit 12 buckets behind the 3-point line to blow out No. 2 Dawson County 71-43 and advance to the championship game Saturday night on their home court.
Grace Hollifield paced the Lady Trojans with 26 points, 18 from the 3-point arc. Maci Gillespie scored 11 and Ansleigh Ferguson chipped in 10 points.
Kaylee Sticker led the Lady Tigers (19-8) with 17 points. Sophie D'Oliverira had 12.
"I'm just glad we responded on defense," North Hall coach Kristi House said. "I think that is what led to the increase on the offensive end tonight – more energy on defense, I think, feeds the offense."
The Lady Trojans defense, led by Macy Clark, opened the second half playing stingy, holding Dawson to just four points in final 6 minutes of the third quarter to take a 47-34 advantage.
"Macy really set the tone in the first half and everybody followed her," House said. "We tried to take it up a notch in the third quarter."
North Hall's high-energy defense forced the Lady Tigers into turnovers and poor shooting.
"We took some bad shots and had some turnovers we shouldn't have had," Dawson coach Steve Sweat said. "We got it down to 33-30 in the third, then it just blossomed for North Hall. Sometimes when it goes bad, it all goes bad. They just played better than us today."
North Hall poured it on in the final eight minutes, outscoring Dawson 24-9.
The Lady Trojans will play Greater Atlanta Christian Saturday at home. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Live coverage of the game will be on FM 102.9 & AM 550 WDUN.
"We're going to have to shoot the ball well again," House said about the region title game. "And, you've got to be able to stop the ball and protect the paint – you just have to. Hopefully, we can keep some of this special magic going."
GREATER ATLANTA 58
CHEROKEE BLUFF 36
The Lady Bears (13-4) showed up for a half against GAC Saturday night in the semifinals of the Region 7-3A tournament.
The only problem, GAC showed up and showed out in the second half en route to a blow out win.
GAC (15-11) outpaced Cherokee Bluff 33-13 over the final two quarters. The Lady Bears had no answer.
Maddie Thomas scored 12 points to lead the Lady Bears. Kayleigh Addie tossed in 24 points for GAC.
The Lady Bears will play Dawson County in the consolation game Saturday at North Hall. Game time is 3 p.m.
GAC is set to play North Hall for the region title on Saturday at 6 p.m. at North Hall.
