A Final Four run had been Archer's goal since Day 1. Mission accomplished.
The Tigers, in only their fifth season, are headed to the Final Four of the AAAAAA state tournament.
Archer rolled past North Forsyth, 57-39, Wednesday to advance the semifinals. The Tigers will face Lowndes on Saturday at Georgia Tech.
"We knew we had a shot this year," said Archer coach Ryan Lesniak. "You can't set attainable goals and expect your team to reach greatness. This has been our goal since Day 1."
Day 1 wasn't that long ago for one of the newer Gwinnett County schools. But the Tigers look like they're here to stay.
The Newby sisters, point guard Madison and post Autumn, combined for 29 points, and Georgia signee Amber Skidgel added 11 for the Tigers. Archer outscored North 18-4 at the foul line. The Tigers attempted 34 free throws to North's seven.
"I mentioned it to the refs," said North coach Eric Herrick, who has led the Raiders to back-to-back 20-plus win seasons in his two years. "But maybe they were just more aggressive than us."
Archer never trailed and shut down what had been a potent North Forsyth offense with a solid man-to-man defense that kept the Raiders out of the paint.
Lochlain Corliss led the Raiders with 13 points, and senior Avery Scarbrough added nine. Junior Caroline Bowns, who has already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career, struggled to find her range and finished with seven points. Bowns and Corliss will be back next year for a North program on the rise.
Madison Newby finished with a game-high 15 points, but made an even bigger impact on the defensive end. She kept Corliss out of the paint, disrupted North's dribble-handoff offense and turned the Raiders into a one-dimensional 3-point shooting attack. And the shots weren't falling early for the Raiders, who didn't score their first points until Scarbrough made a pair of free throws with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers took a 25-19 lead into intermission and put the game away in the third quarter with a flurry of 3-pointers. Skidgel hit three consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half, and Kalya Rodgers followed with a pair of 3-pointers, helping Archer open a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
North wouldn't get back within single digits and saw the most successful season in school history come to a close.
Archer, meanwhile, celebrated with fans, who stormed the court and later cheered as the Tigers took turns cutting down the nets.
"Final Four, baby!" Lesniak said, as he hugged Madison Newby.
