High school basketball region tourneys: Creek girls fall short of 1-loss LFO in finals

Published 10:00 pm Friday, February 17, 2023

Boys

Murray County 64, Rockmart 44

Murray County (12-13) was stopped just short of competing in the Region 7-2A finals Thursday night, but the Indians recovered to down Rockmart (15-13) 64-44 Friday to grab the region’s third seed for the playoffs.

Murray powered ahead of Rockmart and led 37-18 at halftime.

The Indians hit the road for the first round of the Class 3A playoffs, which starts Tuesday. Murray County is back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2020.

Northwest Whitfield 57, Southeast Whitfield 53

It was an all-Whitfield County battle for the third seed in Region 7-4A between Northwest Whitfield (16-11) Southeast Whitfield (12-15) Friday night.

Northwest Whitfield scored the last four points of the game to grab the lead and prevailed over Southeast in the consolation game of the region tournament at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, taking the third seed in the upcoming Class 4A playoffs. Southeast is the fourth seed.

Both are on the road for the first round of the playoffs, which start Tuesday.

Dakota Blackwell led the Bruins with 12 points, while Jackson Harris scored 11 and Isaiah Foster put in 10.

Cal Rich and Brayden Miles both scored 16 for the Raiders. Matthew Brock scored 10.

Girls

Dalton 69, Cartersville 38

A big second half powered Dalton (20-8) over Cartersville (12-15) 69-38 for its 20th win and the third seed in Region 7-5A.

After Dalton missed out on a spot in the Region 7-5A finals with a loss to Hiram in overtime on Wednesday, the Catamounts bounced back to thrash Cartersville in the third-place game Friday afternoon.

Dalton led 30-20 at halftime.

The Lady Catamounts start the playoffs on the road in the first round, which begin Tuesday.

Fannin County 56, North Murray 32

The seed is set for North Murray (15-11). The Lady Mountaineers lost to Fannin County (19-8) 56-32 Friday afternoon in the third-place game of the Region 7-2A tournament at North Murray.

The Lady Mountaineers make their return to the state playoffs as the fourth seed in Region 7-2A and are on the road in the first round. North Murray is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

A big first half from Fannin County, which was the second-seeded team headed into the tournament but was upset by Model in the semis, put North Murray behind 34-13.

Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 61, Coahulla Creek 49

The upset bid was alive for Coahulla Creek (15-11) into the second half, but the Lady Colts couldn’t keep pace with once-beaten Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (25-1) late in the Region 6-3A championship game Friday night at LFO.

The Lady Colts fell short, 61-49.

Playing in the finals of a region tournament for the second time in three seasons, Coahulla Creek was right in it with the defending region champs through a half. Coahulla Creek trailed 13-10 after the first quarter and 35-33 at halftime.

LFO pulled out to a nine-point advantage after the third quarter.

The Lady Colts are the second seed from Region 6-3A in the state playoffs and get a home game in the first round, which starts Tuesday.