RINGGOLD, Ga. - The Northwest Whitfield High School girls' basketball team has one major goal: to play the next game than it did in the previous one.
Considering the level the Lady Bruins reached during Tuesday's 66-30 rout of Heritage, that's one goal that may be unreachable.
Paced by the hot shooting of Whitley Brooker and Holly Heath and the all-around floor game of point guard Bria Clemmons, Northwest Whitfield (20-4, 11-2) dominated from start to finish in ascending to first place in Region 7-AAAA. A win Thursday against Southeast Whitfield will clinch the regular-season title.
The Lady Bruins also avenged an earlier loss to Heritage (17-5, 10-3), something that clearly was on their mind.
"Needless to say, the girls were motivated," Northwest coach Greg Brown said. "I've been waiting on a half like we played in the first half, and we knew we could play that well. Knowing what was on the line and playing as well as we played, I can't say enough about the effort."
The early domination began at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter when Heath's 3-pointer began a 29-7 run that ended only because of halftime. Nicole Bates followed with another 3, and only back-to-back Shayla Ludy baskets to end the period kept the lead from being more than 18-11.
However, Northwest scored the first 12 points of the second quarter, with Brooker and Clemmons hitting 3s. A Mary Kate Allen putback pushed the lead to 30-11 before Heritage scored its first points of the quarter on Emily Wiley's free throws.
Clemmons then assisted M.E Capehart on a layup before getting a steal and layup as the lead grew to 21. It would stand at 39-14 at halftime after Brooker's layup.
"This means a lot after losing to them at home," said Brooker, who led Northwest with 17 points. "To come to their place and beat them is good, and it gives us more confidence heading into the region tournament. We are peaking at the right time."
Heath added 14 points and Clemmons had 13 to go with five steals. Allen was a force inside with eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Freshman Wiley was the lone Heritage player in double figures with 17 points.
"We were very disappointed after the earlier game because we knew we could play better," Brown said. "We made some personnel changes and defensive adjustments. The kids really stuck to the game plan, and I'm just proud of their effort."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter@youngsports22.