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The North Middle School Gatorettes beat the Page Panthers 37-34 at Stewarts Creek Middle School Wednesday in a quarterfinal game for the Section 2AAA tournament.

Facing the champions of Area 8AAA, the Gatorettes pulled away in the fourth quarter and held off a late rally to secure the upset victory and advance to the next round of the bracket.

The teams traded the lead a few times in the opening period with the Gatorettes grabbing a slight lead to end the quarter.

They led 10-7 after one quarter.

The Panthers scored seven straight points late in the second quarter to take a 16-14 lead, but a close-range basket by Sadie Hill with 28 seconds left in the half tied the score at 16-16 going into the halftime break. Kennedy Hall scored four of North’s six points in the second quarter.

The score remained tight throughout the third quarter with neither team pulling ahead by more than two points.

The score was tied at 24-24 going into the final period.

The Gatorettes scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take the largest lead of the day for either team. The Panthers then slowly chipped away at the deficit and made it a two-point game in the final minute of the contest.

After a free throw by North’s Ari Hill brought the lead back up to three points with 11 seconds left, the Panthers had the ball with a chance to shoot a game-tying 3-pointer, but the Gatorettes didn’t let them get a shot off as they held on for the narrow victory.

Sadie Hill led the Gatorettes with 10 points for the game, followed by Gracen Baggett with nine points and Hall with eight.

Kenzie Arnold scored six points, and Ari Hill and Shekinah Miller scored two points each.

With the win, the Gatorettes improved to 11-6 on the season.

They will next play Friday against Warren County Middle School at Stewarts Creek in a semifinal game for the Section 2AAA tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.