The Tuscola girls basketball team will play for the 3A West championship Saturday night at UNC-Greensboro.

In a tight game where the lead changed several times, Tuscola came out on top, 52-46.

The Tuscola varsity women’s basketball team’s first ever trip to the NCHSAA state tourney just so happened to coincide with a team from their same WNCAC conference they had played three times previously this season in the Franklin Panthers.

In he fourth matchup the Mountaineers received an unexpected benefit when Franklins leading scorer Maggie Stewart was injured in the first quarter and did not return. Tuscola’s Peyton Fisher, Taylor Gibson and Alex Swanger took full advantage of her absence in the paint to dominate the boards and eliminate the Panthers in a tense 52-46 victory Thursday night in the Fleming Gymnasium on the campus of UNC Greensboro.

The Mountaineers advance to play the winner of the other western regional game between Ledford and Charlotte Harding High School at the Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.