SNELLVILLE, Ga. — North Forsyth survived a poor shooting night to beat Gainesville 49–35 at Shiloh High on Thursday to advance to the Region 8-6A championship game.
The second-ranked Lady Raiders (26-0) were 2-of-24 from 3-point land and 1-for-7 from the foul line.
“Yeah, we had to lean on our defense and push the ball inside tonight,” North Forsyth coach Brad Kudlas said. “You know, you’re going to have those bad shooting nights. We had it tonight, but we were able to lean on our defense and get the win.”
The Lady Raiders out rebounded Gainesville 34-24, 16-9 on the offensive end and forced 24 Gainesville turnovers.
London Weaver led the Lady Raiders with 23 points, and had some key baskets inside the paint to stop two Gainesville runs that cut the lead to single digits twice. Weaver scored 18 of her 23 points inside the paint. She also had eight rebounds, six offensive boards.
“London had a big night finishing layups inside and getting some key rebounds,” Kudlas said.
Lindsey Pirkle was even bigger on the boards for the Lady Raiders, ripping down 14, five of which were offensive.
But the Lady Red Elephants didn't back down from the top-seeded Lady Raiders. After trailing 24-9 with less than 4 minutes to go in the first half, the Lady Red Elephants cut the lead 24-19 with 1 minute left. Addison Farmer, Drea Maddox and Kelsey Lester led the charge.
However, Weaver hit back to back baskets to stop the run and push the Lady Raiders ahead 28-19 at the half.
Gainesville, again, closed the gap to single digits in the final quarter on a 6-0 spurt led by Lester and Julia Payne. Lester nailed a 3-pointer and Payne hit a jumper to cut it 32-26.
But just like the last run Weaver, along with Pirkle, hit a couple layups.
Despite the loss, the Lady Red Elephants played North Forsyth closer than any other team in Region 8-6A this season. Before Thursday's semifinal game, the Lady Raiders average margin of victory was 27 points.
Payne led Gainesville with 11 points, Drea Maddox and Lester finished with 9 each.
Gabbie Gliatta finished with 15 points for the Lady Raiders.
North Forsyth has made the state tournament 11 of the last 12 seasons and will play the winner of Habersham Central-Lanier on Friday at Shiloh for the championship. Tip off is 7 p.m. If they win on Friday, it’ll be the Lady Raiders’ seventh straight region title.
“We’ve got a some things to clean up before tomorrow,” Kudlas said. “Hopefully, we’ll come out with a little bit more intensity tomorrow and take care of business. That’s what we’re looking to do.
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