TUNNEL HILL, Ga. - Greg Brown knew his team had one mismatch on the court.
Getting his players to realize it was the challenge.
The Northwest Whitfield girls' basketball coach got the point across at halftime of Friday's Region 6-AAAA game with rival Heritage, and it helped turn a two-point halftime deficit into a comfortable 58-45 win.
The victory pushed the Lady Bruins to 20-2 overall and, more importantly, to 10-0 in league play. They have now clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming region tournament, a bye into the semifinals and a berth in the state tournament.
Junior post Jada Griffin scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, using her size and quickness to dominate the paint. She scored eight consecutive points early in the third quarter as part of a 17-3 period that completely turned the game around.
"They played really well the first half, and we made a few adjustments in the second half," Brown said. "I talked to Jada specifically and told her that we could get the ball to you, but you've got to catch and score before the double team gets to you. Man, she went off there in the third quarter and we were able to spread the lead out.
"What I liked the most was we didn't panic. We've had a couple of close games here recently after not having many earlier, and it was nice to see us stay calm and just execute."
The Lady Generals (15-8, 6-3) controlled play early, with a 9-0 run giving them a five-point lead. Ansley Bice then scored all 10 of her points in the second quarter as Heritage took a 24-22 lead into halftime, though coach Eddie Bryant knew a storm was brewing.
"We told them at halftime they were going to come out better, and they were," said Bryant, whose team is locked into the No. 3 tournament seed. "Their defensive intensity picked up and we quit working on getting better shots than 3s.
"They've got a very good team, and they are much deeper than we are. We kind of punched them in the nose in the first half, and they went into the locker room and said, 'Hey, they are here to play tonight.' We got their attention, but it wasn't enough."
Griffin began her run with a short jumper, added a free throw and then a three-point play and another layup off a nice feed from Tionne Baker to give the Lady Bruins a 32-25 lead. Bryant tried to slow the momentum with a pair of timeouts, but they didn't work.
Baker drove for a layup and Hallie Brooker nailed a 3-pointer as Northwest assumed control, 39-27, after three quarters.
Emily Wiley, who paced Heritage with 14 points, tried to lead a rally, but Griffin wouldn't allow it, scoring eight fourth-quarter points as the Lady Bruins' lead never fell below 10.
Brooker added 12 points and seven rebounds for Northwest, while Griffin also had seven boards and a team-high five steals.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.