COAL MOUNTAIN, Ga. — The North Forsyth girls still reign supreme in Region 6-7A.
In their final season in the state's largest classification, the second-ranked Lady Raiders captured their fifth straight region championship with a dominant 62-43 win over rival South Forsyth on Wednesday at Raider Arena.
"It feels great," coach Brad Kudlas said. "Those girls worked so hard. Part of me felt like we were peaking a little early, and kind of had to grind the last couple of games, but they came out ready to go tonight."
South Forsyth had no answer for the Lady Raiders smothering defense and key shooting performance.
"They cranked it up. That's our bread and butter," Kudlas said about the defense. "We rely on the defense to make the offense go, and the girls made the offense go. Playing solid defense is key to our offense."
And they did just that, turning a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter into a 32-21 halftime lead.
Freshman London Weaver scored eight of her 11 first-half points in the second quarter. She poured in a game-high 16 points, including 12 from the 3-point line.
"Those were huge," Kudlas said of Weaver's output in the second quarter. "I don't care what anybody says, she's the best freshman in the county."
Weaver was one of two Lady Raiders in double figures. Haelim Adle chipped in 14 points.
But it was Meredith Franklin and Kamryn Gardner that squashed any hopes of a South Forsyth comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter to go up 17 points, 47-30.
The Lady Raiders continued to pressure, forcing South Forsyth into panic mode in the fourth quarter. It was just another recipe for the Lady Raiders' success.
Meanwhile, North's offense cashed in those Lady War Eagle mistakes down the stretch, with Leah Hall sinking a 3-pointer, and Erin Whalen and Franklin scoring in the paint to extend the lead, 59-37 with 2:45 left in the game.
Sharon Tolliver led South Forsyth with 14 points. The Lady War Eagles will be the No. 2 seed in the Class 7A tournament next week.
As for the Lady Raiders, they will await their first-round opponent which will be the loser of the Peachtree Ridge-North Gwinnett game.
"We work hard. We want to be playing at home," Kudlas said about being a No. 1 seed in the state tournament. "We play better at home. But it doesn't matter, every team is a good team."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/2/1078832/girls-basketball-north-forsyth-wins-fifth-straight-region-6-7a-title