The Lady Raiders lost another close one, falling 55-51 after trailing virtually the entire game.
The #6-ranked Lady Red Elephants held a 29-23 lead at the break. Lainey Gosnell and the Habersham girls clawed back, and many times trailed by as little as two points late. The Lady Raiders won the second half, 28-26, but it was a slow first quarter that did them in.
Lainey Gosnell led all scorers with 29 points, while McKenzie McDuffie played very well with 11 points, nine of which came on 3-pointers.
The Lady Raiders fall to 14-8 overall and 2-5 in region play with just a few games remaining in the regular season.
Between games, Habersham recognized the 10-year Habersham career of Raiders coach Don Ledbetter, who will be retiring at the end of the school year.
The Raiders had the daunting task of taking on a 19-1, #1-ranked Gainesville team loaded with Division-I talent. The Red Elephants put their athleticism on full display, flying high with multiple dunks, alley oops and acrobatic layups and moves to the hoop. Gainesville led 24-7 after just one quarter and 43-12 at the half.
Gainesville polished off the win, 82-28 to move to 20-1 overall and 6-0 in region play. The Raiders (1-20; 0-7) are still in search of their first region win.
