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Sports

Battle of Region Favors Lady Bulldogs

North Gwinnett rallies in second half for win.

North Gwinnett scored 31 points in the fourth period to rally, taking a 60-56 victory over the No. 2-ranked Norcross Lady Blue Devils.

When Norcross was winning state titles with Eddie Martin as the coach, the House of Blue was usually late in arriving. But after last season's state title and this year's battle for a No. 1 seed, the House of Blue was packed early.

North Gwinnett's team was riding a 15-game winning streak and was the only team from Georgia to beat Norcross this season. Nothing changed as the Lady Bulldogs scored 31 points in the fourth period and rallied from an 11-point deficit.

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Diamond DeShields hit a long two-point basket at the end of the third period to give the Lady Blue Devils a 40-29 lead heading into the final period. But that was where North's sensational Sophmore Lexi Brown took over.

Brown helped with a quick basket and a 3-pointer to score the first five points of the quarter and North went on a 15-4 run to tie the game at 44-44 with 5:15 left in the game. Ariel Johnson's 3-pointer tied the game.

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Norcross then got a Dearica Hamby basket and a DeShields layup to go up 48-44 with 4:02 left. The GAC transfer Payton Whitted nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 48-47 and Norcross was in for a battle. Hamby's basket with 50.2 cut North's lead to 53-52 but the Lady Bulldogs were able to salt the game away at the free throw line.

Brown finished with 22 points; Johnson had 12 and Rachel Bruck's had 10, eight in the fourth quarter and had a 4-point play right after DeShields thought she was fouled on a 3-pointer.

DeShields finished with 24, Hamby had 10 and Alex DeMercy had 9 on senior night. Shayla Cooper had 8. Norcross falls to 21-3, 12-2 while North improves to 19-5, 14-0 in the region.

"We played excellent for three quarters," said Norcross head coach Angie Hembree. "But they got hot in the fourth quarter and we could stop Lexie (Brown). On this night, North Gwinnett, it appears, was the better team.

Norcross used a 17-2 run in the third period to take a commanding lead and coasted to a 62-51 victory over North Gwinnett Bulldogs. "We're peaking at the right time," said Blue Devils head coach Jesse McMillan. "We can make some noise come region tournament time."

Norcross boys started slow as the two rarely used seniors Brelan Butler and Rod Booker. North Gwinnett was able to slow the athletic Blue Devils down and led just 8-7 at the end of the first period.

They both got on track in the second quarter but North, who built an 8-point lead at 23-15, let it slip away. When Chris Bolden nailed a 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run, the game was tied.

North's point guard Clayton Williams scored the final points of the first half to give the visitors, who beat Norcross earlier this year, a 25-23 lead.

The Blue Devils came out on fire as they exploded for a 17-2 run to open the period. The only basket was a ball that deflected off a Norcross players head and into the basket. The basket was credited to Ryon Riggins. Norcross to a 45-32 lead into the fourth period.

Unlike their female counterpart, the boys were able to hang on as four players were in double figures. Bolden led the Blue Devils with 17, Josiah Moore had 10 including eight during the 17-2 third quarter run. Moore had a monster dunk that brought the crowd of an estimated 1800 to their feet. E. Victor Nickerson and Derrrick Herbert had 11 each. Riggins had 10 and sharp shooter A.J. Clemens finished with a team high 11.

North drops to 17-7, 9-5, while Norcross extends their winning streak to nine games and improves to 17-9, 11-3.

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