Forsyth Central’s girls ended their regular season home schedule with a 58-35 rout of Lakeside Tuesday night at D.B. Carroll Complex.

Now, the hard work begins.

Winning their two remaining regular season games would boost the Lady Dawgs’ seeding in the upcoming region tournament.

To do so, however, Central coach Andy Martin believes the Lady Bulldogs (14-6 overall, 8-3 Region 6A-AAAA) will need to play with more focus than what they showed against struggling Lakeside (1-8, 1-5).

“I was happy with the last three quarters, but in the first quarter we lacked some intensity starting,” he said. “And that’s kind of been a habit for us lately. Lakeside’s record isn’t the best, and sometimes our girls read into that.”

Central started with a 6-0 run, but were pegged back later in the first quarter, which finished with a slimmer 14-11 lead. Top-scorer Christy Hewatt (21 points) came alive during an improved second quarter, hitting a perimeter shot that gave the hosts a 20-13 advantage.

“Overall, Hewatt showed her pace and athleticism — there’s no one on the floor that can guard her,” said Martin.

From then on, Central never looked in danger of being upset. Kayla Richards (15) ended the first half by twisting through a number of opponents for a layup, pushing the lead to 44-25.

Lakeside was then out-shot by six and eight points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as Central notched its third straight win.

Lakeside’s highest scorer was Chelsea Rowe (12 points).

Central looks to keep the same momentum in the final two regular season fixtures, at Marist and Chamblee, before the region tournament. The Lady Bulldogs beat Marist by 10 points last month but fell to Chamblee in December, then went on a six-game winning streak.

“Our next three games are going to be tough,” said Martin. “Marist and Chamblee are at the top of our sub-region.
We have a shot at getting to first place in the sub-region. Winning these next two would make it easier for us getting into the playoffs.”