The Griffin Christian Lady Crusaders got back on the winning track Tuesday evening, defeating the Furtah Prep Lady Falcons 44-33 in GISA Region 4-AA action at GCHS. It was the first region game of the season for both teams.

The Lady Crusaders broke their three-game losing streak to improve to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in region play, good enough for first place in the standings. Furtah falls to 2-4, 0-2.

Furtah only dressed five players, but GC didn’t show them any mercy. GC led 12-8 after one quarter and played its best basketball of the season in the second, outscoring Furtah 15-6 to lead 27-14 at halftime. GC scored the final 3 baskets of the second to end it on a good note.

The Lady Crusaders played good defense on Furtah senior Tyra Dolman in the second half, as she torched GC for 11 of the Lady Falcons' 14 first-half points. But in the third quarter, it was Dolman’s teammate Ashley Muse who led the way for Furtah, scoring 8 points as the Lady Falcons outscored GC 10-5 to climb back in the game at 32-24.

GC forced several Furtah turnovers in the fourth quarter and put the game away. Brittany Foster’s layup off an assist from Katy Hammond made the score 38-30 with 5:00 remaining. Dolman scored to make it 38-32, but that was as close as Furtah would get. Dolman fouled out minutes later and Foster scored the final 3 baskets for GC for the final margin of 44-33.

Foster led GC with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals and Brittany Brogdon added 11 points and 2 assists. The Lady Crusaders shared the basketball (Katy Hammond had 13 assists), rebounded well (Leyah Brown added 8 boards), had balanced scoring and hustled all evening, with players like Allison Miller (2 points, 1 rebound), Hannah Branham and others getting physical against Furtah.

Dolman led Furtah with 17 points and Muse added 11 for the Lady Falcons.

GC hosts non-region foe Grace Christian Thursday at 6 p.m. Griffin Christian throttled Grace 45-25 on Nov. 26 in Fayetteville.

GRIFFIN CHRISTIAN GIRLS

Date |Opponent |Time/Score

11/13 |WEBER |W 48-26

11/16 |Cent. Fellow|L 52-45

11/26 |Grace |W 45-25

11/29 |Weber |W 43-34

11/30 |TRINITY |L 54-29

12/4 |Westfield |L 79-21

12/7 |Mount de Sales |L 73-24

12/11 |FURTAH* |W 44-33

12/13 |GRACE |6:00

12/14 |DAWSON ST |6:00

12/18 |ARLINGTON* |6:00

12/28 |Heritage Tour |TBA

12/29 |Heritage Tour |TBA

1/4 |LaGrange* |6:00

1/8 |WESTFIELD |6:00

1/11 |FLINT RIVER* |6:00

1/12 |MOUNT de SALES |3:30

1/14 |PIEDMONT* |6:00

1/18 |Harvester* |6:00

1/22 |Furtah* |6:00

1/25 |Arlington* |6:00

1/31 |LaGRANGE* |6:00

2/1 |Flint River* |6:00

2/5 |Piedmont* |6:00

2/8 |HARVESTER* |6:00

*GISA Region 4-AA games

Home games in CAPS