For the second consecutive year, the Northwest Whitfield girls’ basketball team beat Atlanta’s St. Pius X in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAA state tournament.
But the Lady Bruins’ 43-30 win – which pushed the Region 6 champions into a home matchup at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, against Henry County or West Laurens – wasn’t exactly a repeat performance.
Unlike last year’s game, the Lady Golden Lions (12-17) were the ones who controlled much of the first half this time. St. Pius X led by 11 points during the second quarter, but a 5-0 run by Northwest (22-5) at the end of the first half tied the game before both teams headed to the locker room.
The Lady Bruins used a 7-0 run in the third quarter to take the lead for good. The state tournament win came eight days after a 72-49 victory against Heritage in the Region 6-AAAA championship game.
“The third has really been our quarter all year long,” Lady Bruins coach Greg Brown said. “I told them, ‘Let’s play a third quarter like we just did in the region final.’ With that being so fresh in our minds, I think that experience really helped us tonight.”
Bria Clemmons and Holly Hearth each scored 14 points to lead the Lady Bruins.
Northwest’s boys made the first-round state doubleheader a sweep for the hosts by beating Madison County 68-45 behind a game-high 25 points from Luke Shiflett.
Shiflett, the 6-AAAA player of the year who led the Bruins (19-8) to the region title, did much of the work in the first two quarters as Northwest built a 10-point halftime lead.
The Bruins pushed that lead to 20 during the second half and left little doubt they were headed for the second round. They’ll host Region 2 No. 3 seed Perry, a 73-49 winner against Region 4 runner-up Druid Hills in the first round.
“We got in a groove and knocked down shots, but that 10-point lead really boosted our confidence,” Northwest coach Ryan Richards said. “I know it was tough on them (Madison County) tonight with it being a gym they’ve never shot in, but that’s why home-court advantage is so important.”
Tanner Boyd made three 3-pointers for Northwest.
The Red Raiders finished the season 15-12.