HIAWASSEE, Ga. — Northeast Georgia-area teams made a strong showing on Wednesday in the opening round of the annual Battle of the States tournament at Towns County High School.
The Union County, Rabun County, and Towns County boys and girls teams went a combined 6-0 in the first round.
Now the going gets tougher as the Towns County and Rabun County teams will battle each other in a pair of semifinal games on Thursday.
The Union County girls will take on Franklin (NC) and the Union County boys will play Murphy (NC) in the other semifinals.
(Individual game summaries are below. Information provided by Brian Hunnicutt.)
TOWNS COUNTY BOYS 67,
COOSA 47
Zane Floyd poured in 22 points to lead the defending champion Indians to the first round win.
That set up a rematch of last year’s championship game with rival Rabun County.
Towns led by eight after the first quarter and took a 32-23 lead into the break. They outscored Coosa 34-26 in the second half to pull away.
Gage Rogers had 11 points for Towns County (6-4).
And a rematch of last year’s championship game, Rabun with face towns County in the semi finals this year.
TOWNS COUNTY GIRLS 53,
COOSA 26
The Lady Indians got balanced scoring in taking a first round win at home,
Ansleigh Hardin had 10 points while Emma Lallement finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds for Towns County (5-4). Brelan Sieveking had 8 points and Kaleigh Beaver chipped in with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
Towns County will take on Class A Division 1 fifth-ranked Rabun County on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.
RABUN COUNTY BOYS 47,
HAYESVILLE (NC) 46
Jack Hood converted an old-fashioned three-point point play with 14 seconds left to lift the Wildcats past the defending Class A North Carolina state champions in a thrilling finish.
Hayesville had a chance for the win but missed a jumper and a stickback attempt as time expired.
The score was tied after the first quarter and the Wildcats (6-5) led 25-17 at halftime. They looked in firm control taking a 39-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
But Hayesville stormed back and led by four with two minutes left. Rabun County rallied back as Hood provided the game-winner.
Hayesville missed a jumper and Outback as time expired.
Rabun County will take on host Towns County in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s championship game.
RABUN COUNTY GIRLS 61,
HAYESVILLE (NC) 25
The Lady Wildcats outscored Hayesville 35-12 in the second half to roll to a first round win.
Rabun County (10-1) led 14-5 after the opening period and took a 26-13 lead into halftime. But the Lady Wildcats held Hayesville to just 3 points in the third and put the game away with a 22-9 fourth quarter run.
Lucy Hood led the way for Rabun County with 16 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Mili Watts added 10 points and 5 steals and Ellie Southards had 9 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Wildcats.
Rabun County will play Towns County in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
UNION COUNTY BOYS 69,
POLK COUNTY (Tenn.) 59
Eli Underwood poured in 23 points and Jude Ellis had 21 to lead the Panthers to the first round win.
The game was nip and tuck for three quarters, but Union outscored Polk 22-13 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.
Union County will play Murphy (NC) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday.
UNION COUNTY GIRLS 51,
POLK COUNTY (Tenn.) 42
The Lady Panthers built an early lead and then held on for the win in the opening game of the Battle of the States.
Ariel McCarter had 20 points to pace Union County (7-5) which has now won three straight.
Union County will play Franklin (NC) in the semifinals on Thursday at 4 p.m.
In other action on the boys side, Murphy (NC) beat Franklin (NC), 65-63, after rallying from a 15-point second half deficit. Murphy got the game-winner with just 9 seconds left.
Dillion Brown led Murphy with 22 points. Cal Drake paced Franklin with 31 points.
