CLEVELAND — Live by the 3-pointer, die by the 3-pointer. The North Hall girls have been living proof most the season.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Trojans hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter alone to blow open a close game with rival White County en route to a big 76-51 Region 7-3A win on the road.
The Lady Trojans shot just four 3-pointers in the first half. They came out bombing to open the second half and finished 8-of-14 for the game.
“Our goal really is to just run our offense and take good shots,” North Hall girls coach Kristi House said. “The girls shot the ball well today. It wasn’t a plan to shoot more 3-pointers, just take the open shot.”
The victory for North Hall (15-6, 6-4 Region 7-3A) avenged an earlier 63-30 loss to the Lady Warriors (11-8, 7-3 Region 7-3A) in Gainesville on Dec. 14. The win also pulled North Hall into a third-place tie in the region with East Forsyth (13-6, 6-4 Region 7-3A).
In the pivotal third quarter, Kristina Peach, who finished with 19 points, went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, including converting a four-point play to push a 32-26 halftime advantage into a 51-37 lead midway through the period. White County did not get closer than 12 the rest of the way.
North Hall forced 20 White County turnovers for the game, seven in the third quarter to help fuel the run.
“We're trying to be tougher on the defensive end. I think we did a good job with that also,” House said.
Rylee Thompson also finished with 19 points for North Hall. Rylee McCall had 14 and Amelia Shoemaker, who did not play in the first meeting, added 12 points for the Lady Trojans.
Kylie Watkins had 13 points to lead White County. Naomi Roberts scored 11 points and Claire Beckman had 10 for the Lady Warriors.
Both defenses helped drive an uptempo first half. Each defense forced 11 turnovers in the first half, leading to more than a dozen points combined.
In the opening frame, there were six lead changes and four ties with North Hall taking a 16-13 advantage at the end of the period when Amelia Shoemaker capped an 8-2 run in the waning seconds.
The Lady Warriors opened the second quarter with three straight points to tie the game at 16 but the Lady Trojans responded with another 8-2 spurt for a 24-18 lead midway through the quarter. White County got back within 26-25 on a Maci Shelnut 3-pointer with 2:38 left in the half but North Hall closed out the half on a 6-1 run for a 32-26 lead.
Both teams will be back in action in Region 7-3A on Tuesday. North Hall travels to No. 1-ranked Lumpkin County while the Lady Warriors head to Cherokee Bluff.
