GAINESVILLE — Sometimes the third time is the charm.
It certainly was for Dawson County Thursday night against North Hall in the second round of the Region 7-3A Tournament at the East Forsyth gym.
And two key stats told most of the story. North Hall: 4-for-37 from 3-point range. Dawson County: 41-24 rebounding edge.
In the end, they also were the catalyst for a 53-37 Dawson County win and the Lady Tigers’ first playoff appearance since 2020, and first under coach Eric Herrick.
“This is still a very young team but we played a wide zone and just tried to contest every 3-pointer they took,” Herrick said. “We also dominated the boards. You can’t let that group have extra shots.
“In the first two games (North Hall) outhustled us, outrebounded us, and tonight our goal was to not let that happen. I was very proud of how the girls played.”
North Hall came into the elimination game having swept the series, 61-54 in Dawsonville, and 47-45 in Gainesville, during the regular season.
Dawson County was red-hot right from the start. North Hall wasn’t, and the Lady Tigers (17-9) never trailed and the game was tied just once at 3-3.
The Lady Tigers hit their first three 3-pointers -- two from Kirklyn Porter and one from Abby Slaton -- and were 4-for-8 in the opening eight minutes while building a 15-7 lead after the first quarter.
North Hall, meanwhile, missed its first 11 3-point shots deep into the second quarter. Slaton’s second trey of the game gave Dawson County a 25-10 lead. Kristina Peach finally ended the 3-point drought for the Lady Trojans with a rainbow shot with 2:50 left in the half to cut the lead to 25-13.
Porter hit the last of her three 3-pointers in the half and scored five points in the final 30 seconds to push Dawson County’s lead to 32-18 at the break. North Hall never got closer than 7 the rest of the way.
The Lady Trojans (17-9) used an 11-5 third quarter to get within 37-29 and pulled within 39-32 midway through the third on a Amelia Shoemaker basket. But Dawson County answered with a 7-0 run while North Hall missed 11 straight 3-pointers after a Rylee Thompson trey early in the third quarter.
Slaton poured in 15 points to lead Dawson County. Porter finished with 13 and Ella Siuta had 9 for the Lady Tigers.
Shoemaker paced North Hall with 14 points. Peach had 9 and Thompson 7. However, Rylee McCall was held to just 3 points in the final game of her stellar career.
Dawson County, which has won 5 of its last 6 games, now gets No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked Lumpkin County (23-1) in the semifinals. The Lady Indians swept the season series.
“(Lumpkin) is a well-oiled machine,” Herrick said. “We’ll have to play with more intensity than we did in the first two games and defend the 3-point line. But first, we’re going to savor this one a little bit. This is the first time for most of these girls and it’s a big accomplishment.”
The semifinals will be on Saturday at Cherokee Bluff High School.
EAST FORSYTH 55,
CHEROKEE BLUFF 37
The Lady Broncos advanced to the Class 3A playoffs in their first season after rallying from 14-points down in the first half.
East Forsyth coach Mike Hedrick said it was a festive, but also subdued celebration afterwards.
“This was a playoff game because it was win or go home. Only one girl had any varsity experience so it was good to get this experience,” Hedrick said. “We’re very excited but I told the girls that we have more plans than just this one (playoff game).”
Ella Holbrook led the East Forsyth (18-7) comeback with 18 points, all from the second quarter on. Alison Hiddema had 15 points and Adeline Rosebush 10 for the Lady Broncos.
Sixth-seeded Bluff (10-16) came out poised to pull the upset over the third-seeded Lady Broncos. Sisters Taliah Gaither and Timber Gaither exploited the Lady Broncos defense combining for 14 points in the first quarter as the Lady Bears ran out to a 17-5 lead.
The East Forsyth offense also was ice cold going just 1-for-8 from 3-point range and just 1-for-19 from the field in the opening period. Bluff extended its lead to 19-5 on a Taliah Gaither basket to open the second.
A Finley Millwood shot with 3:20 left in the first half gave Bluff a 23-11 lead. Over the next 7:40 into the third quarter, Holbrook and Hiddema ignited the comeback for the Lady Broncos.
“We just told the girls to calm down at halftime. But we had a little run at the end of the half that really helped,” Hedrick said.
Holbrook and Hiddema combined for 17 points in a 20-0 run to give East Forsyth a 31-23 lead with just over four minutes left in the third. A Taliah Gaither basket ended the long drought for Bluff and a Kaitlin Cook basket with 2:47 left in the third pulled the Lady Bears within 33-29.
That’s as close as Bluff would get. Two free throws by Holbrook and a Hiddema basket with just under two minutes left started and ended a 17-5 East Forsyth run to put the game away.
Taliah Gaither finished with 14 points and Timber Gaither had 12 in her final game. But the pair was held to just 8 points combined in the second half after dominating much of the first half with 18 combined points.
East Forsyth now gets No. 2 seed White County (13-10) in the semifinals. The two teams split during the regular season with both teams winning at home. But the Lady Broncos won the second matchup last week, 72-60.
“Coach (Jarvis) Davenport does a great job with them and both games were tough,” Hedrick said. “They’re physical and tough and we’ll have to be ready.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/2/1077309/region-7-3a-girls-tournament-dawson-east-forsyth-snag-playoff-berths-advance-to-semis