Athens guard Japera Harris shoots in the second quarter of Friday's Northwest Regional semifinal against Minor.

HANCEVILLE — It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

Athens girls basketball team has made that it’s unofficial motto by the way the team has come from behind to win its last two playoff games.

On Friday, the Golden Eagles overcame a fourth quarter deficit to defeat Minor 60-53 in the Northwest Regional Tournament at Wallace State Community College.

“That was a tough, hard-fought game,” said Athens head coach Eddie Murphree. “Hats off to Minor. They got after us and took some things away from us. But I couldn’t be more proud of how our girls conducted themselves today. They fought through some adversity. Being behind down here can be tough and they gutted it out.”

Athens overcome a slow start in which the team made just 25 percent of its shots in the first half, but clawed its way back into the game with a relentless full-court press the entire fourth quarter. As a team, Athens forced 27 turnovers, many of which came during a frantic fourth quarter finish.

“We usually shoot really well behind the 3-point line. We tried to adjust and do things differently,” said Athens center Alexis Woods. “Defense is what kept us in the game. We were falling apart at first but had to pick ourselves up.”

Woods scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Athens. Tionna Moore had eight points and three assists while Jakayla Bridgeforth, Japera Harris and Olivia Patton combined for nine steals.

Slow start

Athens led 16-11 after the first quarter, but a 7-1 run from Minor to start the second saw the Tigers take their first lead of the game, which they stretched to five points just before halftime.

Athens then went on a 6-0 run to take the lead only to see Minor score with eight seconds left to take a 29-28 lead into the break. During a foul-filled third quarter, Minor grabbed its biggest lead of the game midway through the quarter at 43-36. Woods picked up her third foul during that stretch and had to sit out the remaining four minutes of the third quarter.

But Athens weathered the storm without its leading scorer and trailed by just four entering the final quarter.

That’s when the Golden Eagles turned up the pressure.

“We just hoped that at some point we would start a run and it started on the defensive end,” said Murphree. “We thought we could get ourself back in it if we could just hang around long enough.”

Athens took its first lead since early in the second quarter when Alexis Woods made a pair of free-throws with five minutes to play. With the lead, Athens turned up the pressure and forced turnovers on five straight possessions.

“You are playing with emotion and you’ve trailed for most of the game. So, we did try to pick up the pressure then,” said Murphree.

The Golden Eagles took advantage of those turnovers with an 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter. By the time Minor finally stopped the run with a transition basket, Athens led 54-49 with less than three minutes to play.

Minor never recovered and Athens put the game away from the free-throw line. Bria Dent scored a game-high 33 points for Minor.

“We’ve got four great seniors that have been with our for four years. They won’t quit,” said Murphree. “It makes my life a lot easier. We’ve been blessed with some good character players in our program and that will eventually win games for you.”

Athens will play Hazel Green in the regional final at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wallace State Community College.