North Forsyth High School played the role of spoiler as the Raiders from Cumming won both games at Habersham Central High School as the home Raiders celebrated senior night Friday.
Girls: North Forsyth 69, Habersham Central 30
The visitors made a layup shortly into the game and never relinquished the lead from that point until the final buzzer.
Despite the lopsided loss, HCHS (9-12, 6-4 Region 8-AAAAAA) is cemented into the No. 3 seed for the region tournament.
In fact, the top three spots are locked in with NFHS (24-0, 11-0) taking the regular season region crown and the No. 2 spot will go to Lanier High. Gainesville and Shiloh could flip-flop fourth and fifth, while Apalachee and Jackson County are fighting for the final two spots.
As has been the case for much of the season, senior Kyia Barrett led scoring for HCHS with 17 points. Barrett scored all eight of the Lady Raiders’ points in the fourth quarter and 3-of-4 team points in the third quarter.
Freshman Daytona Underwood put in seven of the team’s nine points in the first quarter for her total on the night.
At the conclusion of the first quarter, HCHS was within striking distance in a 14-9 game, but strong second and third quarters for NFHS put the game out of reach.
The visiting Lady Raiders outscored the home bunch 25-9 in the second period and 22-4 in the third.
Much of that second quarter was powered by London Weaver for North Forsyth. The junior scored 17 in the second and finished with 26 on the night.
Gabbie Gliatta scored 12 and Addison Peck netted 11 for the visitors.
Currently, MaxPreps has North Forsyth ranked No. 13 regardless of classification in the state of Georgia and No. 3 in Class 6A across the Peach State.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Lady Raiders.
Up next, HCHS will travel to Lanier High School on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. tipoff for the girls.
Boys: North Forsyth 75, Habersham Central 71
HCHS (17-6, 6-4) clawed back from an ever-increasing deficit throughout the game, down six after the first, seven at half and 10 heading into the final quarter.
Inside of a minute-and-a-half left in the game, HCHS actually pulled within one point. But a few back-and-forth plays went against the home Raiders and allowed the visitors to push the lead back to six.
An unchallenged dunk at the buzzer for Josiah McCurry set the final score.
McCurry put together quite a game, battling for 29 points in the paint. The senior did his best work in the second and fourth quarters, pouring in 10 and 13 points, respectively. His other six came in the third.
Juniors Enzo Combs and Justus Gober also had double-digit scoring nights with 14 and 10.
The visiting Raiders (8-16, 5-6) also had a player with 29 points in Brogen Casey. Casey had 13 in the first quarter alone.
Michael Akinrinmade had 12 for North Forsyth.
Down the stretch, HCHS had no shortage of chances getting to the basket, but they failed to finish at the rim.
Free throws were one of the biggest missed opportunity spots on the floor for HCHS as it hit just 17-of-28 attempts (60.7 percent) from the line.
Currently, with a 6-4 record, HCHS sits behind Shiloh and Gainesville in the region standings. Just behind the Raiders are Lanier (5-5) and North Forsyth (5-6), making Tuesday’s matchup at Lanier High a big game for seeding purposes.
The Raiders and Longhorns will tip at 7:30 p.m.
