MILTON, Ga. — The Milton girls opened with a 19-7 run and never looked back in beating Gainesville 69-41 on Thursday in the semifinals of the Region 7-5A tournament at the Milton gym.
The Lady Red Elephants (14-11) trailed 22-10 at the end of the first quarter and three times in the second cut it to 10 points. A Jaucelyn Smith 3-pointer made it 27-17 with 3:18 and then a Mattie White bucket cut it to 29-19 with 2:35 left in the half.
Big Red got within 31-21 with 1:29 remaining on a pair of Shailyn Jones free throws. But Milton closed out the half on a 13-6 run to take a 40-23 halftime lead.
The closest the Lady Red Elephants could get in the second half was at 44-26 on another Smith 3-pointer with 5 minutes left in the game.
Jones finished with 16 points and Smith had 14 for Gainesville. The rest of the team managed just 11 points for the game, with just 2 points coming from the bench.
Milton (20-6) had four players score in double figures, led by Londyn Walker with 15 points. Zana Justice had 14 points, Chassity McCammon 12 points, and Deyva Davis 10 points for the Lady Eagles.
Milton moves into Friday’s championship game against the winner of the other semifinal between Lanier and Roswell.
Gainesville will get the Lanier/Roswell loser in the third-place game on Friday.
EAST FORSYTH 48,
CEDAR SHOALS 38
The Lady Broncos advanced to the finals of the Region 8-4A tournament with a win over Cedar Shoals on Thursday.
East Forsyth (11-16) used a 22-11 first quarter blitz, led by 12 points from Ayla Heard, to take control and then held the Lady Jaguars to just 5 points in the second quarter while building a 31-16 halftime lead.
Cedar Shoals closed to within 40-32 by the end of the third quarter. But that’s as close as they could get as East Forsyth was able to hold on down the stretch.
Heard finished with 26 points to pace East Forsyth. Hailey Hiddema had 9 points on three 3-pointers for the Lady Broncos.
Jasiah Wymbs had 16 points to lead Cedar Shoals (9-18).
East Forsyth will take on North Oconee on Friday.
REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES
Region 6-6A at Alpharetta
Thursday, February 13 (Championships)
North Forsyth girls 59, Lambert 41
Region 8-5A at Habersham Central
Thursday, February 13 scores
Winder-Barrow boys 78, Loganville 57
Habersham Central boys 60, Jackson County 41
Clarke Central girls 33, Jackson County 31
Habersham Central girls 50, Winder-Barrow 16
Friday, February 14 (Championships)
Habersham Central girls vs. Clarke Central, 7 p.m.
Habersham Central boys vs. Winder-Barrow, 8:30 p.m.
Region 7-5A at Milton
Thursday, February 13 scores
Milton girls 69, Gainesville 41
Gainesville boys 63, Seckinger 48
Friday, February 14 (Championships)
Boys championship: Gainesville vs. Lanier, 8:30 p.m.
Region 8-4A at North Oconee
Thursday, February 13 scores
East Forsyth girls 48, Cedar Shoals 38
North Oconee girls 70, Eastside 44
Saturday, February 15 (Championships)
North Oconee girls vs. East Forsyth, 4:30 p.m.
GIAA District 4 3A/4A at Lakeview Academy
Thursday, February 13 scores
Lakeview boys 60, Bethlehem Christian 52
