CLEVELAND — Bently Cronic drained a 3-pointer just 6 seconds into the game and the White County girls were on their way to a 69-32 win over West Hall Tuesday in the first round of the Region 7-4A tournament at the White County gym.
It had the makings of a trap game as the Lady Warriors came in having won 16 of their last 18 games while West Hall had lost 14 of its last 15 games, including a pair of lopsided losses to White County.
But White County jumped out to a fast 11-3 lead and used an 11-0 run later in the first quarter to blow the game open quickly. The rest of the first half was played to a standstill as the Lady Warriors led 37-16 at the half.
The win pushed the Lady Warriors (19-7) into their third straight state playoff appearance after they had just two playoff appearances over a 30-year period from 1984 to 2013.
“When I took over here that was the goal, to get White County back to a consistent playoff team. We’re definitely going in the right direction,” White County coach Jarvis Davenport said. “I thought we played okay, but there are still a lot of little things we need to work on.”
White County put the game away with a 19-7 third quarter as Cronic again ignited a big run with a 3-pointer. They led 56-23 heading into the fourth quarter and invoked a 6-minute clock.
Cronic finished with 15 points to lead White County. Maddie Futch and Rachel Lovell both had 8 points and Dasha Cannon had 6 points for the Lady Warriors.
West Hall was paced by Kinsey Wilson with 12 points in her final high school game. The Lady Spartans finished the year 4-22 with the loss.
The Lady Warriors now will take on defending Region 7-4A champion Flowery Branch on Thursday in the semifinals. White County won both regular season meetings but Davenport expects the defending champions to come out swinging.
“They are a tough matchup. They’re playing better and have (Ashlee) Locke who is hard to defend,” davenport said. “We’ll have to defend well and rebound the ball. But I think we’re playing well as well so I expect a tough game.”
FLOWERY BRANCH 68,
BLESSED TRINITY 35
The Lady Falcons got a solid inside-outside game from Ashlee Locke and Shaina Kriews in an impressive win over the Lady Titans.
The pair combined for 45 points as the Blessed Trinity defense had no answer for either. The win moved the Lady Falcons into the state playoffs for a sixth consecutive year and the 10th time in 11 seasons.
Flowery Branch coach Courtney Newton-Gonzalez said it was the kind of performance from both that they will need. The Lady Falcons next will take on White County in the region semifinals on their home court.
The Lady Falcons had lost two straight coming into the tournament and had beaten Blessed Trinity twice in a pair of close 9-point wins during the regular season.
“We needed a game like that,” Newton-Gonzalez said. “Our guards, which are young, are playing better. We’ve moved Shaina more to a shooting position and that has really helped.
“It’s always good to make the playoffs. We’ll need a whole game against (White County) and do a better job against their press. I thought we played much better the second game against them but we’ll need to play with the same kind of confidence I thought we showed tonight.”
The Lady Titans led twice, at 2-0 and 4-2, before Kriews knocked down a long 3-pointer for a 5-4 lead. Flowery Branch never trailed again. Kriews’s shot ignited an 8-0 run for 10-4 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Lady Falcons led 18-9 and later used a 14-5 to close out the first half for a 38-20 lead. They used an 18-7 third quarter to blow the game open.
Locke finished with 25 points and had 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Kriews had 20 points while Morgan Aguilar added 9 and Bella Brick 8 for the Lady Falcons.
CHESTATEE 58,
DENMARK 29
The War Eagles advanced to their fourth straight Class 4A state playoffs with a big win at the White County gym.
Chestatee (15-11) never trailed against the Lady Danes (7-19). Maggie McNair opened the game with a 3-pointer and Lexi Strickland capped an 8-2 start with a 3-pointer.
The Lady War Eagles eventually led 16-8 after the first quarter but used an 11-0 run in the second to blow the game open. Annie Dollyhigh drained a long 3-pointer, a McNair steal and layup followed, and McNair hit a trey to cap the run for a 32-12 lead.
The hot shooting set the tone for relieved Chestatee girls coach Sutton Shirley.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times and we had beaten pretty good both times so I was a little worried about how we would come out to start the game,” Shirley said. “But the girls were ready to play and shot the ball well, especially early on. This was a big win for us.”
Chestatee went into the intermission with a 37-17 lead and then got defensive holding the Lady Danes to just one field goal while blowing it open for a 54-19 advantage.
Now they will turn their attention to No. 1 seed Marist, which swept them during the regular season, in the semifinals on Thursday at Flowery Branch.
“We feel we can compete with them,” Shirley said. “The first game was very close but we made some mistakes late that hurt us. If we can play under control and shoot like we did tonight, we definitely have a chance.”
McNair paced Chestatee with 13 points, including hitting three of the team’s eight 3-pointers. Strickland finished with 10 points, Emma Eastwood had 9, and Danielle Bull and Logan Wiggins each had 8 points for the Lady War Eagles.
Sophie Smith led Denmark with a game-high 14 points.
