With their 67-53 quarterfinals victory over No. 5 Rabun County on Thursday at Georgia College, the No. 7 GAC Lady Spartans area headed to the Class AA semifinals.
Awaiting the Lady Spartans (20-9), the No. 3 seed from Region 6, will be a familiar foe:
region rival and defending state champs Wesleyan, the No. 3-ranked team and a No. 2 seed. The semifinal will be played Saturday at Georgia College.
The Lady Wildcats, a No. 1 seed from Region 8, finish their season with a 25-4 record.
The game was up-tempo from start to finish, and it was the Lady Spartans who won both the race and marathon, never trailing in the game.
"We're an athletic team and we were able to push the ball up the court and pass on the backside," said sophomore guard Taylor Sutton, who scored 16 of the Lady Spartans' points. "Basically, that's where all of our points came from - that side was always open."
Caria Reynolds - who led GAC with 17 points - drained a 3 as the second quarter expired to give the Lady Spartans a 36-20 lead heading into halftime. The Lady Wildcats opened the third quarter on a 12-6 run to pull within 10 but never got any closer.
For GAC, now it's on to Wesleyan. The Lady Wolves, who beat Heard County 79-22 earlier on Thursday, is 3-0 against GAC this season.
"That matchup right there is just like a mind game,"Sutton said. "We have to play on the same page and play together as a team and put the pieces of the puzzle together."
GAC coach Lady Grooms knows the difficulty of the challenge that lies ahead.
"I think Wesleyan is the best," Grooms said. "If you're going to win it, you have to play the best. They know how to win."
(Correction: Robyn Benton led the Lady Spartans with 17 points and Caria Reynolds had nine.)
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