VALDOSTA — The North Hall girls entered the Georgia High School Association Class 3A semifinals averaging 57 points per game.
The Lady Trojans (23-9, Region 7-3A No. 1 seed) got nowhere near that average in a 52-31 loss to third-ranked Beach in the semifinals, ending their quest for a Class 3A title at Valdosta State University on Saturday afternoon.
"We didn't shoot it well," North Hall coach Kristi House said. "We knew we were going to bout have to shoot perfect. Nothing that happened today is going to take away from this season. Throughout the game anything we asked them to do, adjustments we tried to make, they tried to do that. Even though the scoreboard doesn't reflect a win, I'm really super proud of our kids."
Only one Lady Trojan hit the double-digit mark -- Lauren Swanson scored 11 points, 8 of which came in the third quarter to lead the team in scoring with 11 points.
Even more evidence of the Lady Trojans' offensive struggles was in the first half, in both the first and second quarters, they were held scoreless for almost 5 minutes, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to run out to 16-5 first-quarter lead. And in the second quarter, a 5:06 drought gave Beach a 30-10 lead at the break.
But still, the North Hall defense helped keep the bleeding in control and left them with a chance to make a run.
"I thought the defense was pretty good," House said. "We got on the floor for loose balls, and we took charges."
They made a small one in the third quarter when Swanson scored off an offensive rebound to close the gap, 35-17, on a 7-0 spurt.
North Hall was 11-of-56 from the field for the game -- 30 of those attempts missed 3-point tries. They only hit five 3-pointers for the entire game, a stark contrast from the first three rounds of the tournament.
Kaila Rougier led the Lady Bulldogs (22-9, Region 3-3A No. 2 seed) with 14 points. She was one of three in double figures. Madison Evans and Ameyah Dantzler added 13 points each.
