The Atlantic girls basketball team gave the top-ranked Cherokee Braves all they could handle but fell short 63-48 in a Class 3A Region 1 Semifinal on Wednesday night. The Trojans fell into a couple of holes in the second and third quarters but clawed back to make it a four quarter game.

The Trojans kept the game tight early with Maycie Waters hitting a couple of early threes. It was 13-13 at the end of the first and the Braves used a 10-0 run mid second quarter to grab an 11 point halftime lead at 35-24. The Braves got the first two buckets of the third quarter but Atlantic didn’t fold. The Trojans used a 10-0 run of their own to claw back in the game. Atlantic whittled the lead all the way down to 3 in the third and were down 49-43 heading into the fourth. Tessa Grooms dropped a bucket in early in the fourth and then both teams went on a scoring drought for about 4 minutes before Kenna Mongan hit a three at the top of the key to spark a strong finish for the Braves. Cherokee outscored Atlantic 11-3 the rest of the way to advance.

JeMae Nichols led the way for the Braves with a game high 27 points. Mongan added 12 and Alexis Pingel dropped in 11. The Braves stay unbeaten at 21-0 and will head to the 3A Region 1 Final on Saturday night against Panorama.

Atlantic was led by 15 points by Haley Rasmussen; the outstanding senior finishes her career as Atlantic’s All-Time leading 5v5 scorer (1,259) and also broke the single season points record this year (482). Jada Jensen added 14 points and Maycie Waters had 10. Atlantic ends a battle tested season at 9-14.

Listen to the full postgame interview with Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason below.

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