AAAAA boys basketball: North Cobb 76, Kennesaw Mountain 58

The fifth-ranked North Cobb boys team entered this week’s Region 4-AAAAA basketball tournament as the No. 2 seed after losing a coin flip with regular-season co-champion Harrison to determine the top position.

That’s about the only thing the Warriors haven’t won lately.

North Cobb (22-4) collected its ninth consecutive victory on Tuesday, defeating Kennesaw Mountain 76-58 at home to advance to the region semifinals and clinch a berth in the state tournament. North Cobb will play Hillgrove at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hillgrove.

North Cobb has not lost since a 59-57 setback against Harrison on Jan. 17, a loss the Warriors avenged 52-50 on Friday to tie for the regular-season region title.

“At times it wasn’t pretty tonight, but all we wanted to do was win,” North Cobb coach Terry Gorsuch said. “You’ve got to give them credit, because anytime you play a rival for a state tournament berth, you know it’s going to be a heated, intense affair, and that’s what it was.”

Kennesaw Mountain fought back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit and got within seven points with 2:40 remaining in the game. But North Cobb made 15 of 18 free throws in the final 1:08 to put the game away. Saxon Steele made all 12 of his attempts in that stretch, including six that were the result of three Kennesaw Mountain technical fouls, and finished with a game-high 22 points.

“Free throw shooting has been one of our strengths this year,” Gorsuch said. “I wouldn’t expect [Kennesaw Mountain] to lay down in a game that’s an elimination game. To their credit they did fight back, but to our credit we made some plays and hit some free throws down the stretch.”

Seventh-seeded Kennesaw Mountain (5-21) missed its first eight shots and fell into a 10-0 hole in the first six minutes. The Mustangs hit three consecutive 3-pointers to cut the lead to 13-9 early in the second quarter, but North Cobb closed the half with a 23-8 run to lead 36-17. North Cobb maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Lee Moore finished with 15 points and Jordan Neff had 14 for North Cobb. Brendt Pickens led Kennesaw Mountain with 21.

Third-seeded Hillgrove advanced with a 45-43 victory over Campbell in the first game at North Cobb on Tuesday. Rhodis Eason made two free throws with six seconds left to break a 43-43 tie, and Campbell missed a 3-pointer at buzzer. Eason led Hillgrove with 11 points.