Randolph County's girls' team came into the Southeast Region tournament

with a .500 record, somewhat of a Cinderella team.

Midnight struck early on Tuesday as Slocomb forced 39 turnovers on the way to a 72-55 win.

"We expect to score points off our defense," Betty Lewis said. "We have to be aggressive all the time."

Of those 39 turnovers, 21 came about on steals. The result was a significant advantage for Slocomb in points off turnovers. Slocomb scored 38 points off turnovers and managed to fast break for 28 of those points.

Slocomb needed a few minutes to get its game plan working. Randolph County built a short-lived 7-2 lead in the first quarter. All seven points came from Kellie Smith who scored the first nine Randolph points on her way to a 17-point performance.

Slocomb answered the call, though, and scored four straight points. Smith scored again to put the lead back to 9-6, but Slocomb turned the game quickly. Slocomb scored four points in three seconds to take a 10-9 lead and never looked back.

The Lady Redtops led 16-11 at the end of the first quarter and blew the game open in the second by outscoring Randolph 24-13.

Slocomb led by as many as 23 points in the second half before the starters left. Randolph County made the score closer with a late run in the fourth.

Adrienne Smith and Deanna Yeomans led the Lady Redtops with 19 and 14 points respectively. Smith also grabbed seven steals and Yeomans took away four.

Slocomb will play in the Regional championship game Friday at 12:30 p.m.