Pinecrest Academy’s girls  advanced to the second round of the GISA-AAA region tournament with a 52-48 win over The Weber School on Monday in Sandy Springs.

The Lady Paladins have won six of their last seven contests and entered the tournament on the heels of regular season region wins against The Atlanta Girls School and Holy Spirit Prep.  

Pinecrest trailed most of the first half and was down by three  points the break, but the Lady Paladins gained the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for the four-point victory. 

Kayla Bergen led Pinecrest with 23 points, while Margaret Cassandra added 15 points.

Head coach Kevin Furtado praised senior Danielle Anderson for her defensive efforts, which helped hold Weber’s leading scorer to only 15 points. 

“This was a typical first round tournament game, they are always close and the seeding doesn’t  seem to matter,” Furtado said. “Everyone comes ready to play and they challenged us every time down the floor.”

No. 2-seed Pinecrest plays sixth-seeded rival Holy Spirit Prep on Thursday in Sandy Springs.