The Griffin Lady Bears nearly blew a 20-point lead, but played good defense down the stretch and made clutch baskets to come away with a 63-57 win over the North Clayton Lady Eagles Tuesday evening in the regular-season finale at The House.

With this Region 4-AAAA Div. B win, the Lady Bears improved to 11-13 overall and 8-7 in the region and swept the Lady Eagles (11-14, 7-8) in the regular season. Griffin secured the third seed in the upcoming Region 4-AAAA Tournament and that means the Lady Bears will be one win away from qualifying for the Class AAAA state playoffs. Griffin will more than likely face the No. 2 seed Dutchtown Lady Bulldogs of Div. A on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Woodland-Stockbridge.

It almost was disaster for the Lady Bears Tuesday evening. Griffin jumped on North Clayton early, rolling to a 14-9 lead after one quarter and used pressure defense and easy buckets to really sprint past the Lady Eagles. Griffin point guard Shacoria Jones got two baskets off steals and the Lady Bears pushed the pace to take a 33-17 halftime lead.

In the second half, Griffin jumped out to a 41-21 lead with 5:18 left in the third quarter and the Lady Bears looked to put the Lady Eagles away. But North Clayton then went on an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 13 at 45-32 with 2:51 left in the period. The Lady Eagles then continued their run and cut the lead to eight points, 47-39, heading into the fourth quarter.

Griffin made two big defensive plays to start the fourth quarter, which led to fast-break baskets by Alexis Roberts to put Griffin up 51-39. North Clayton then went on an 18-8 run to cut the lead to two, 59-57, with one minute left in regulation. But Griffin's ReRe Mangham hit a deep bank shot and after Victoria Middlebrooks blocked a North Clayton shot, Jones got the ball and drove through the entire Lady Eagles defense for a clutch layup for the 63-57 final margin.

"It feels good to get this win. We always fight hard and we don't give up," said Jones, who finished with 17 points. "We stayed focused tonight and won. On my last shot, I just did what I needed to do for us to win."

Mangham and Xandria Hosely added 11 points each for Griffin. Christal Williams led NC with 18 points, Lorenda Holsten added 15 and KeKe Harden chipped in 12.

GRIFFIN HIGH GIRLS

Date |Opponent |Time/Score

11/19 |vs. Lowndes |L 45-39

11/20 |vs. Valdosta |L 64-29

11/27 |WOODLAND* |L 46-35

12/4 |Stockbridge* |W 49-32

12/7 |DUTCHTOWN* |W 46-44

12/8 |HENRY CO. |L 47-45

12/11 |L. GROVE* |L 48-43

12/14 |E. Landing* |W 57-46

12/15 |LAMAR |W 60-49

12/18 |Lamar |W 61-53 OT

12/21 |vs. Pike Co. |L 53-34

12/22 |vs. Upson-Lee |W 43-39

1/4 |Jonesboro* |L 46-39

1/5 |Dutchtown |L 48-40

1/8 |Upson-Lee* |L 1-0 FFT

1/11 |SPALDING* |W 49-46

1/15 |Riverdale* |W 52-42

1/18 |N. Clayton* |W 51-47

1/19 |NORTHSIDE-WR |L 42-32

1/22 |JONESBORO* |L 60-34

1/25 |UPSON-LEE* |W 41-32

1/26 |Spalding* |L 57-48

2/1 |RIVERDALE* |L 39-38

2/5 |N. CLAYTON* |W 63-57

****REGION TOURNAMENT****

2/12 |vs. Dutchtown |5:30