SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A much better shooting performance came with the defense for North Forsyth in the championship of the Region 8-6A tournament.
The result: another region championship.
The second-ranked Lady Raiders (27-0) fired past Habersham Central 54-20 en route to their seventh straight region championship at Shiloh High School on Friday.
NoFo coach Brad Kudlas was all smiles after the game. It was the culmination of a perfect regular season.
“You know, if you had told me this a long time ago, I would have said, ‘yeah, that ain’t happening.’ But it’s amazing,” Kudlas said about seven straight region titles. “It gets sweeter every time. I mean, you think you would get bored of it. Well, you don't get bored of that.”
After a dismal shooting performance (2-for-24 from the 3-point line) in a 49-35 win over Gainesville in the semifinals on Thursday, the Lady Raiders sprinted out to a 23-2 lead in the first quarter behind Emma Rose and Gabby Gliatta, who combined for 23 first-half points.
Rose gave the NoFo an early spark in the first half, connecting on three 3-pointers, including one with 17 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Lady Raiders a 17-2 lead.
“Emma did great tonight,” Kudlas said. “She tweaked her ankle last night, but she still wanted to come in and get some shots in. She came in dialed in. She just plays a huge role, like just running our whole team. So, just to knock them down and have the confidence was huge for us.”
The first half output, coupled with a tenacious defense that held Habersham Central is just two first-quarter points, pushed NoFo to a 33-9 lead at the half.
“We hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, and that helped a lot,” Kudlas said. “But just the energy we brought tonight. The girls brought tons of energy on defense. Offensively, we were clicking a little bit better, and it gave our defense a little more energy as well.”
Gliatta led the Lady Raiders with 15 points, while Rose added 12 and Region 8-6A Player of the Year London Weaver chipped in 11.
North Forsyth will play the No. 4 seed out of Region 5-6A in the Class 6A tournament on Tuesday at Raider Area.
“We want to play at home, and we'll play whoever we get,” Kudlas said about the first round. “We’re going to get ready for them. This team has matured, and we’ve got several leaders that lead different ways. It just comes back to being that unit of 12, and that’s so key for us. So, I’m excited to see what we can do in the tournament this year.”
