Girls basketball scoreboard: Chestatee, Buford, NHall take wins, White falls to Pickens in 1st place battle

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — In the first major battle for first place in Region 8-4A North, Chestatee rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Cherokee Bluff, 57-48, Tuesday night at the Lynn Cottrell Complex.

The two teams came into Tuesday’s showdown tied for first in the subregion. 

The Lady War Eagles (13-4, 5-0 Region 8-4A North) used a 19-10 third quarter to grab the lead and then held on in the fourth.

"I thought that at halftime, we cleaned up some things that we had practiced schematically," Chestatee coach Sutton Shirley said. "We weren't exactly executing them like we needed to. And when we cleaned that stuff up, it made our lives a lot easier in the second half, especially for us offensively."

Riley Black poured in 23 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter and 14 in the second half, to pace Chestatee. Payton Cable added 13 points, and Caroline Bull had 8 for the Lady War Eagles.

Bluff (13-3, 4-1 Region 8-4A North) led 15-12 after the first quarter on the strength of a balanced offense that saw six different players score. The Lady Bears led 29-28 at the break.

But Bluff could not hold on. Payton Cable ignited a run to push the Lady War Eagles ahead for good, 41-37, mid-way through the third quarter. Chestatee hit 19-of-26 free throws for the game, including going 10-of-12 in the second half.

"Payton Cable did a great job tonight, and what goes unnoticed in the stat line is she had 13 and nine (rebounds)," Shirley said. "She was a big part of our press break, and she did a good job of handling it against pressure, distributing the ball and putting her teammates in very good opportunities."

The Lady Bears were just 6-of-9 from the free-throw line and had just two 3-pointers for the game.

Emma Reynolds led the way for Bluff with 11 points. Hallie Wilson and Bristol Kersh each had 8 points. Claire Carlson was held to just 4 points for the Lady Bears.

PICKENS 58,
WHITE COUNTY 52

The Class 3A fight-ranked Lady Warriors could not hold on to a first quarter lead in a Region 7-3A loss to the fifth-ranked Dragonettes on the road.

White County (14-3, 2-2 Region 7-3A) led 19-12 after the opening frame but Pickens (17-0, 4-0 Region 7-3A) used an 18-8 second quarter to grab a 30-27 lead. The Lady Warriors cut it to 42-40 heading into the fourth but could not complete the comeback.

White County next will play host to Dawson County on Friday in another big region contest.

BUFORD 63,
MILL CREEK 41

The third-ranked Lady Wolves stayed perfect in Region 8-7A and ran their win streak to 13 straight with a big road win on Tuesday over the eighth-ranked Lady Hawks.

It was a tight game in the first quarter as Buford (13-1, 2-0 Region 8-7A) led just 16-12. But the Lady Wolves used a 22-7 second quarter to extend their lead to 38-19 by halftime and never looked back.

Ava Grace Watson led Buford with 24 points, 14 coming in the big second quarter. Lydia Ledford added 15 for the Lady Wolves.

Mill Creek  (10-4, 1-1 Region 8-7A) was led by Isabella Ragone’s 13 points.

NORTH HALL 66,
EAST FORSYTH 58

Athena Vachtsevanos scored 19 points, and Genesis Satterfield had 16 to lead the Lady Trojans (11-5, 3-2 Region 8-4A North) past East Forsyth (10-8, 3-3 Region 8-4A North) on the road Tuesday. 

Braelyn McCall added 12, and Zara Gosse chipped in 11 in the win. 

The win moved the Lady Trojans into third place in the sub-region standings, one-half game ahead of East Forsyth. 

LANIER CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 74,
PEACHTREE ACADEMY 26

The Lady Lightning opened region play with a blowout win at home.

Jia Thapar led all scorers with 24 points. Elliana Clark had 12, and Brianna Clark had 9. Ellie Roberts added 8, and Emma Flowers pitched in with 7 points for LCA (9-6, 1-0 in Region).

LCA will play host to Young Americans Christian School in another region matchup on Thursday.