The North Cobb girls proved Tuesday that you can still win playoff basketball games with good defense and solid fundamentals.
The Warriors shook off a horrible first half, which saw them not make their first field goal until the final minute, and take down Mill Creek 45-40.
“We may not have any superstars, but we have good players who are talented and when they play hard together, we can do some things,” North Cobb coach John Speeney said.
Mill Creek had a 19-12 lead at halftime when North Cobb’s defensive effort began to pay off. The Warriors kept inching closer and took the lead on a pair of free throws from Erinne Giles with 5:55 left to play.
North Cobb kept getting stops and adding on, stretching its lead to seven points before turning aside a late Mill Creek rally.
“We pride ourselves on defense,” Speeney said. “We’ve tried to tell them, you’re not always going to see the ball go in every night. You’re just not. Well, when you play good defense you’re going to give yourself a chance to win and that’s what we did tonight.”
Mill Creek rode Isabella Ragone, a talented 6-foot-2 sophomore, who had nine of her 19 points in the first half. But North Cobb’s tough defense – particularly Kaiya Sibley-Clark -- wore on Ragone, who had only one point in the fourth quarter.
“She is fantastic,” Speeney said. “We knew we had to be aware of where she was at all time. … Kaiya is a good athlete and we thought her length would help us .”
North Cobb (20-8) was led by Giles with 18 points and Armani Shaw with 16.
Mill Creek (18-8) also got 13 points from freshman Mia Huckaby.
North Cobb came up big at the line, making 21 of 29. The Warriors made 7 of 8 in the final minute to nail down the win,
“Our kids got to the line and made some big free throws,” Speeney said. “We told them before the game it was going to take good defense, defensive rebound, making our layups and making free throws. That’s what’s going to make the difference in the game.”
North Cobb, the No. 3 seed from Region 5, advances to play the winner of the Norcross-South Forsyth game.
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