GREENSBORO — A great defense was a key factor in Pisgah’s 57-45 victory over Bandys during the opening game of the West 2A Regionals played Wednesday at UNC- Greensboro’s Fleming Gymnasium.

The Bears will play again Saturday for the right to advance to the state championship.

Pisgah held their challengers to a 34.1 percent shooting success to the Bears’ 42.2 and out rebounded the Trojans 35 to 27.

Taking an early lead of 8-2 at the end of the first quarter, the Bears held the lead throughout the game, taking their biggest lead of 15 points with 5:20 seconds remaining in the game.

“We knew that we had to take care of the ball in the last quarter, but we did not do a great job, and that is something that we will work on the next couple of days in practice,” said Coach Brandon Holloway. ...