HANCEVILLE — Good Hope’s varsity girls are a victory away from consecutive trips to Birmingham.

The Class 4A No. 4 and defending state champion Raiders raced out to a fast start against Dora on Wednesday, eventually netting a 68-53, wire-to-wire win in the Northwest Regional Tournament at Wallace State to advance to their fourth Elite Eight in the past five seasons.

Good Hope’s defensive intensity parlayed eight first-quarter turnovers in a 23-6 cushion after eight minutes. 

And though the Bulldogs kept within striking distance the rest of the way — thanks to a game-high 27 points from Bella Reese — they never threatened the Red and White’s overall command of the Sweet 16 clash due in large part to the Raiders shooting 50 percent from the field.

Good Hope will now play in the title clash on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against either No. 3 Deshler. It will mark the fifth straight season the two programs have met in regional action.

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Coach Speak

“This time of the year … obviously, the most important stat is getting the win. As far as our end, though, I feel like there are a lot of things we have to clean up. The energy and the effort … I felt like we didn’t get a lot of the 50-50 balls tonight. Regardless of who we play next, our energy, effort and intensity is going to have to be better for us to keep playing basketball.” — Justin Aby

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Top Scorers

Ava McSwain (22), Ella Gossett (14), Lexi Marshall (12), Sophie Konrad (8)

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Record

Good Hope: 26-5