South Forsyth girls dismantle Forsyth Central in regular season finale

CUMMING, GEORGIA – On Tuesday night, the South Forsyth girl's basketball team reached what they hope is their first of several milestones this season.

After dominating the competition in Region 6-AAAAAAA this season, the No. 21 ranked War Eagles capped things off with a 68-22 dismantling of Forsyth Central to finish the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record in region play.

The War Eagles (22-3) out-scored their opponents 613-318 in region play and they will now gear up for the region tournament where they will look to win their first region championship since 2015.

Head coach Keith Gravitt said he couldn’t be more proud of the effort.

“These girls had a goal to set a standard that hadn’t been set at our school before,” South head coach Keith Gravitt said. “They wanted to do some things tonight and I think they set that tone early, defensively. A lot of our open looks came off defense, great hustle and finding open teammates. We had 25 assists tonight. I’m proud of the team for matching the energy that we asked them to bring.”

The War Eagles were red hot from behind the arc Tuesday night against the Bulldogs.

They buried seven long balls in the first quarter and finished the game with 11. Senior guard Clara Morris knocked down four three-pointers while Sharon Tolliver connected on three and Leah Bagwell connected on two.

A pair of three-pointers from Tolliver and Maggie Thompson gave the War Eagles an early 8-0 lead.

They led 12-0 before the Bulldogs were able to get on the board with a layup and by the end of the first quarter, they held a commanding 23-7 lead on 5-fo-7 shooting from behind the arc.

On the defensive end, the War Eagles forced the Bulldogs into eight turnovers in the first quarter. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their first six possessions to start the game and didn’t attempt a shot until the 4:16 mark.

With a big lead already established, Gravitt turned to his second unit as early as he could and by halftime, they led 39-11. The three-point attempts slowed down in the second quarter, but two from Morris gave them nine in the first half.

The War Eagles struggled to find a rhythm in the third quarter and scored just seven points. But with the starting unit back out on the court to start the fourth, they used a quick 10-0 run that included a Tolliver corner three-pointer to go out on a high note.

The second unit scored the final 12 points and Bagwell nailed the 11th and final three-pointer of the night in the closing minutes.

With the win, the War Eagles finish off the regular season with a 22-3 record and a perfect 10-0 region record. But with an important region tournament ahead, they’re not celebrating just yet.

“I’m proud of these girls,” Garvitt said. “It’s easy to lose focus sometimes and they haven’t. They’ve kept the big picture in mind. The region regular season schedule only gets you a place for your region tournament. You’ve got to go play there and that’s what matters. We’ve still got big games left ahead of us to play.

The War Eagles will receive a first-round bye in the region tournament that starts on Saturday at West Forsyth. They enter as the No. 1 seed and will play the winner of Milton/Denmark on Tuesday. The championship game is scheduled for Thursday night if they are able to advance.

“We’ve told our team that we’re not going to walk around with a target on our back,” Garvitt said. “We’re going out and we’re looking for targets. We want to play hard no matter what the situation. We just look forward to the challenges and we feel like our best basketball is still ahead of us.”