GAINESVILLE, Ga. — With No. 1-ranked Pickens in town, the No. 7 Chestatee girls basketball team picked a bad night not to play well.
The Dragonettes outscored the Lady War Eagles 30-15 in the second half to pull away for a 56-36 Region 6-3A win at the Lynn Cottrell Center.
“The way we played tonight, we would have lost to seven different teams in the region,” Chestatee Coach Sutton Shirley said. “They deserved to win. We deserved to lose.”
Chestatee (12-6, 4-3 Region 6-3A ) went scoreless in the first six minutes of the second half, and Pickens (15-2, 6-1 Region 6-3A) began to pull away after holding a 26-21 halftime lead.
Ellison Steinhauer scored 27 to lead Pickens, including 18 in the first half. It was the second time this season that Steinhauer had scored 18 points in the first half against Chestatee.
Reagan Ludington, who scored 8 points, hit two baskets early in the second half to spark the Dragonettes.
The Lady War Eagles suffered through a tough shooting night. Addison Boyd led them with 12 points, and Payton Cable scored 10.
Chestatee fell behind 7-0 to start the game, but Addison Boyd’s two 3-pointers and Blakely Boyd’s four points rallied the Lady War Eagles to a 13-11 lead after one quarter.
The Dragonettes pushed out to a seven-point lead, but baskets by Caroline Bull and Cable kept the Lady War Eagles in the game at the half.
“We matched their effort in the first half,” Shirley said. “We decided not to match their effort in the second half.”
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Chestatee. The Lanierland Tournament champions had won nine of its last 10 games before Friday’s loss. The Lady War Eagles will need to play better as they hit the teeth of their region schedule.
“If we play like this, we will miss the state playoffs and lose to every team that is in the region,” Shirley said. “The defensive effort that we gave and the offensive execution that we decided to exhibit on the court tonight.”
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