FLOWERY BRANCH — The Lady Warriors rallied from a 27-22 halftime deficit to knock off \defending Region 7-4A champion Flowery Branch, 54-50, Thursday in the Region 7-4A semifinals at the Flowery Branch gym.
It was the second close win for White County (19-7) over the Lady Falcons (16-11) in less than a week. The Lady Warriors will play Marist on Saturday at Flowery Branch for the title.
White County coach Jarvis Davenport said they are looking forward to the opportunity.
"It's always good to play for a region championship after a long year of working hard," Davenport said. “This year's team has two region finals appearances and three straight state appearances, but they are hungry for the crown. They know in order to get it, they would have to either beat the defending champion and two-time champion and they wouldn't want it any other way.”
The Lady Falcons will play the Chestatee-Marist loser at 3 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game.
Flowery Branch led most of the first half taking a 15-10 lead after the first quarter and 27-22 lead into halftime. But White County roared out of the intermission to outscore the Lady Falcons 20-12 to grab a 42-39 lead.
They held off several Flowery Branch charges by matching baskets in the fourth quarter.
Dasha Cannon led White County with 13 points. Bentley Cronic added 12 points and Maddie Futch had 9 for the Lady Warriors.
Ashlee Locke paced Flowery Branch with a game-high 20 points. Shaina Kriews had 12 for the Lady Falcons.
BUFORD GIRLS 67,
CLARKE CENTRAL 31
The Buford girls used a huge first quarter to roll to a win over Clarke Central Thursday in the semifinals of the Region 8-5A tournament at the Clarke Central gym.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Wolves (25-1) raced out to a 23-5 lead after the opening eight minutes and never looked back. They led 40-20 at halftime and then got even more defensive in the second half.
Buford held the Lady Gladiators (5-17) to just 11 points in the second half while continuing to blow the game open leading 54-25 heading into the final period.
Sara Viti led Buford with 12 points. Blair Wallis had 11 points, Tatum Ozment 10, and Tate Walters 8 for the Lady Wolves.
The Lady Wolves will play the Cedar Shoals-Loganville winner at 7 p.m. Saturday for the championship.
MARIST GIRLS 50,
CHESTATEE 28
The Lady War Eagles could not follow up their big win in the opening round in the semifinals of the Region 7-4A tournament against top-seed Marist.
Chestatee fell behind early and could never catch up as Marist extended the lead in the second half.
Next, Chestatee will take on Flowery Branch at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the third-place game.
