With the win the Lady Elephants move on to the state tournament. Gainesville will now play the winner of Flowery Branch-White County game Friday at 4 p.m. at Chestatee High School.
The usually high-flying Lady Red Elephants (22-3) were forced to play a slow down game as Chestatee ran a disciplined offense to shorten the game.
"Chestatee gets better every time we play them," Gainesville coach Manson Hill said. "They did a good job of dictating the pace but I was proud of how we showed patience and waited for our chance."
Gainesville led just 13-9 after the first quarter and the Lady War Eagles (9-15) cut it to 15-12 early in the second quarter.
But then Gainesville finally got its chance.
Tasha Humphrey exploded for 13 straight points as Gainesville forced four straight turnovers. The Lady Elephants finished the second quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 30-14 halftime lead.
"That's why they're the No. 1 team," Chestatee coach Lewis Shirley said. "They have a lot of firepower and you have to not let them get on runs like that."
Hill attributed the explosion on the defense and rebounding. The Lady Elephants outrebounded Chestatee nearly two-to-one and have outrebounded 20 straight opponents.
"Defense is the key for us and I thought we really played outstanding defense (tonight), Hill said. "We used our height to rebound and control the game that way."
Chestatee never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way but outscored Gainesville in both the third and fourth quarters.
Shirley said it's something for his young team to build on.
"This was a big game for our younger players to play in an atmosphere like this. They didn't back down and finished strong. I'm very rpoud of their effort," he said.
Humphrey finished with 20 points - allin the first half - to lead Gainesville. Kita Waller added 11 for the Lady Elephants.
Anna Bailey led Chestatee with 12 points. Brooke Puckett, in her final game for the Lady War Eagles, finished 10.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/2/163978