Swafford-led Meigs wins 75-47

photo Meigs County's Emileigh Swafford (4) drives against Howard during the first half of play Friday evening. Meigs won over Howard with a final score of 75-47.

Emileigh Swafford didn't like the way the game had started, so she took matters into her own hands. Literally.

The Meigs County junior made four of her six 3-point shots during a five-minute stretch early in the first quarter to help her team take command and cruise to a 75-47 whipping of Howard in the Region 3-AA quarterfinals at Howard.

"I thought we came out kind of sluggish at first," said Swafford, who finished with 32 points. "But once we got going, things really started to go our way. We wanted to put the game away as quick as we could."

Howard scored on two of its first three possessions for an early 6-3 lead, but Meigs County answered with an 18-0 run and the game was never close again.

Meigs County (25-6) will face rival McMinn Central in the semifinals Monday at McMinn County.

Meigs held Howard without a field goal for more than six minutes during a stretch from midway through the first quarter into the second.

"At a certain point I just told the girls to go get them," Meigs coach Jason Powell said. "We expect Emileigh to make plays for us. She's averaging about 24 points a game, so we know whenever we need to get our offense going, she can be the one to get us started."

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