The Gainesville High School girl’s basketball team topped Leesburg for the fourth time this season on Tuesday night, though the stakes were a little higher in the final match up. After the 71-56 win at home, the Hurricanes will advance to the regional championship this Saturday against Orlando Edgewater for the second year in a row. Though GHS was up by only a basket at the half (27-25), they finished strong the last two periods, scoring the first nine points of the second half to give them an 11 point lead over the Yellow Jackets. GHS head coach David Gordon said that his team came back to play the way they needed to in order to win the game.
Gainesville sophomore Janiah McKay led the game with 24 points while senior guard Kayla Lovett put up 22 on the night. After finishing their season 25-1 and advancing for the second straight year in the postseason, GHS head coach David Gordon explained how much this win means to the school.
Other teams advancing to their regional final include:
In Class 7A-Regiona 1, Buchholz nips Fleming Island 63-59; the Bobcats will play at Viera on Saturday.
In Class 4A-Region 2, Ocala-Trinity Catholic advances after an 80-76 overtime win over Bradford County.
In Class 1A-Region 4, Newberry routs Crescent City 51-23 and now the Panthers travel to The Villages Saturday.
Some other local teams did not advance. Eastside dropped the Class 5A Region 2 semifinal against St. John’s Bartram Trail 59-45, while P.K. Yonge fell short against Father Lopez 62-60 in the Class 3A Region 1 semifinal. Hawthorne and Union County also went down to defeat.