GAINESVILLE -- North Hall battled back from an early deficit and then held off a furious Dawson County rally for a nail-biting 47-45 win in Region 7-3A action at Lynn Cottrell Court.
North Hall (16-7, 7-5 Region 7-3A) moved into fourth place all alone with the victory while Dawson County (13-9, 6-6 Region 7-3A) dropped into fifth place with the loss.
The Lady Tigers led 13-9 after the first quarter but North Hall eventually took a 21-20 lead into halftime. The Lady Trojans opened the second half with a 17-9 run to grab a 38-29 lead going into the fourth.
Dawson County chipped away in the final period but hit just 6-of-13 free throws for the game.
Kristina Peach paced North Hall with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Rylee Thompson added 11 points and Amelia Shoemaker had 10 for the Lady Trojans.
Dawson County was led by Morgan Chester’s 13 points. Kirklyn Porter added 11 for the Lady Tigers.
JEFFERSON 58,
CHESTATEE 41
Ellie Kinlaw poured in 20 points, including four 3-pointers to lead the No. 2-ranked Lady Dragons (20-2, 10-1 Region 8-4A) to their eighth-straight win on the road.
Chestatee (15-8, 5-5 Region 8-4A) trailed just 15-12 after the first quarter and 30-24 at halftime. The Jefferson defense turned up the pressure in the second half.
The Lady Dragons held the Lady War Eagles to just 17 points after intermission. They led just 41-33 but outscored Chestatee 17-8 in the fourth quarter to blow it open.
Natalia Bolden added 15 points for Jefferson.
Riley Black paced Chestatee with 18 points. Bowen Corley had 10 points for the Lady War Eagles.
JOHNSON 49,
APALACHEE 46
Sarah Johnson scored 16 points, and Ashley Mintz had 13 to lead the Lady Knights to their first Region 8-5A win of the season on the road Friday night.
Johnson (4-17, 1-9 Region 8-5A) was on fire in the opening period, behind seven points from Johnson, to take a 15-6 lead at the end of the quarter.
But Apalachee's Averie Akin scored nine points in the second quarter to rally her team back and close the gap, 22-19 by the half, and an 18-point third-quarter pushed the Lady Wildcats ahead, 37-36.
In the final frame, the Lady Knights were able to win the quarter and grab the win, outscoring Apalachee, 10-7.
BUFORD 33,
HABERSHAM CENTRAL 24
The Lady Raiders (15-4, 6-3 Region 8-6A) slowed the game way down against the third-ranked Lady Wolves (18-3, 9-0 Region 8-6A) on Friday in Mt. Airy.
Taylor Romano and Betty Nguyen scored 9 points each, while Jayla Gudz added 6, and Tatum Ozment had 5.
ST. FRANCIS 74,
LAKEVIEW 36
The Lady Lions struggled from the get-go against No. 2 St. Francis in the loss on Friday.
St. Francis jumped out to an 18-3 first-quarter lead and was up 29-11 at the half. In the third, St. Francis upped its lead, 45-24, by the end of the quarter.
Joelle Snyder led the Lady Lions with 18 points, and Dynesty Putnam chipped in 13 and 8 rebounds.
TRINITY PREP 43,
LANIER CHRISTIAN 28
Ashley Avery scored 17 points and pulled 23 rebounds to lead LCA (9-13, 3-5 GAPPS) in the loss to Trinity Prep on Friday.
Camille Hoffman added 18 rebounds and scored 5 points.
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