HANCEVILLE – “Rise to the Occasion” can be seen in bold, purple font on the front of the Danville varsity girls shooting shirts they wear prior to the game. That phrase has been the motto all year and during the Lady Hawks 4A Northwest Regional Semifinal against Good Hope, that phrase came to life. Danville bested Good Hope 49-39 to advance to the Regional Final on Wednesday morning despite not having their best performance.

“This time of the year, I will take a win any way we can get it,” said Danville head coach J.J. Hill. “We knew that Good Hope was going to give us a good fight. The second half we did a better job of playing defense and keeping the ball out of the post and I think that helped us with our rebounding.”

The first quarter was a three-point shooting exhibition by both teams. Danville drilled five threes – three by Emma Broadfoot and two by Jolee Cole – as they took a 21-19 lead after one period. In the second, the shooting slowed down, but so did Danville’s ability to rebound. The Raiders controlled the boards in the first half holding a 20-13 advantage in that department. Good Hope trailed just 30-27 at the break despite the Hawks shooting 50 percent from three.

Hill emphasized defense and rebounding in the second half and much like the shooting shirts, his team chose to rise to the occasion. The Lady Hawks allowed just two points in the third quarter and opened up a 41-29 lead after three periods. Danville turned on cruise control from there to claim the victory and advance to Northwest Regional Final and secure a spot as one of the top-eight teams in 4A girls basketball.

Cole finished the contest with 17 points while Jordan Hinkle also hit double figures with 12. Danville advances to play the winner of Deshler and Priceville 9 a.m., Wednesday morning.