CARROLLTON, Ga. — North Forsyth coach Brad Kudlas received the best birthday present in a long time Saturday afternoon at the University of West Georgia.
His Lady Raiders (31-0) held off a second-half Veterans charge to get a 43-33 win over the Lady Warhawks (24-7) at The Coliseum to advance to the program’s first Class 6A state championship game.
Kudlas, fighting back his emotions, said it was all surreal.
“When I run around the track at Raider Arena, I see those banners on the wall," he said. "I knew we were going to add to them because we made state. Now, we’re going to do our best to add state champs. But for it to happen on my birthday … it’s the best birthday present ever.”
The Lady Raiders will play Marist, who upset No. 1 River Ridge in overtime, Friday at the Macon Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
“It was a goal we set for the team at the beginning of the season,” senior Addison Peck said. “Now that we’ve made it, let’s go win it.”
London Weaver and Gabbie Gliatta led the Lady Raiders with 15 points each.
But it was the defense, again, that was the star of the show, holding the Lady Warhawks to just 13 first half points, and fending off a second half Veterans surge. They also held Veterans leading scorer Gabby Minus to 14 points.
“We’ve kind of been hanging our hat on defense,” Kudlas said. “Sophia (Parks) was on their best player and kept her in check. I don’t even know how many blocks we had, but we did a good job on them, executed our game plan, and fought through adversity (in the second half).”
NoFo strolled through the first half, slowly building a double digit lead behind Gliatta and Weaver, the two combined for 13 of the 15 first quarter points. The Lady Raiders extended the lead to double digits off 3-pointers from Weaver and Josie Cheatham in the second quarter. Cheatham’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Raiders their largest lead of the game, 26-12 with two minutes left.
But the second half was a bit different as Veterans turned up the pressure and forced the game into a chaotic final half.
The Lady Warhawks finished the third quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the lead 32-25 on a Nariah Nelson basket with 24 seconds left.
“We overcame a lot of adversity in the third quarter,” Peck said. “Things weren’t going our way but we battle back, fought through and got the win.”
Gabby Minus started the fourth with a bucket, but it wasn’t to the 5:05 fourth quarter mark that it began to get a little too close for the Lady Raiders. Minus hit two free throws, inching Veterans within four points, 34-30.
The Lady Raiders, however, fought through the Veterans' pressure to push the lead back up off a Gliatta layup, 36-30. Gliatta added another layup with 3:27 remaining for a 38-30 lead.
"They had a lot of momentum," Weaver said. "So, we just had to keep our heads level, work together and calm each other down to finish it out."
In the final two minutes of the game, NoFo was 4-of-6 from the foul line.
“We were able to keep our composure tonight and grind it out,” Kudlas said. “These girls have been through a lot, and they just have the will to win.”
OTHER SCORERS -- North Forsyth: Sophia Parks 4, Emma Rose 2, Abby Tarver 2, Josie Cheatham 3, Lindsey Pirkle 2; Veterans: Nariah Nelson 8, Des'Tyn Seaton 7, Leana Minus 2, Rayven Hadridge 1, Rionna Byrd 1
