ATHENS — The Jefferson girls basketball team captured its third straight Region 8-4A title Friday night, pulling away from Chestatee in the championship game at Cedar Shoals High School.
The Class 4A third-ranked Lady Dragons outscored No. 9 Chestatee 23-9 in the fourth quarter for a 61-47 victory.
The Lady War Eagles stood toe-to-toe for the first three quarters. Jefferson led just 27-24 at halftime and the game was tied at 38 after three quarters.
Jefferson (23-3) will take the No. 1 seed from 8-4A into next week's state playoffs. Chestatee (20-8) will be the No. 2 seed.
JEFFERSON BOYS 55,
NORTH OCONEE 45
The Jefferson boys rallied from a lackluster first half to beat the Titans and capture the region title.
North Oconee led virtually the entire way in the first half. The Titans took a 14-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter and led 21-7 midway through the second. The Dragons managed to pull within 24-13 by halftime.
The second half was all Jefferson, however. The Dragons outscored North Oconee 42-21 in the second half behind JT Fulkrod and Dalen Gales.
Jefferson chipped away in the third quarter and then Fulkrod got hot hitting 8 straight free throws.But Gales drained a huge 3-pointer late that helped give the Dragons a cushion.
Fulkrod finished with 22 points and Gales had 12 for Jefferson.
