KENNESAW — After a close first half, North Cobb found its rhythm in the second half en route to a 67-40 victory over Coffee in the first round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs Wednesday.

The win moved the Region 4AAAAAA champion Lady Warriors (25-3) into the second round, where they will host Rockdale County on Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the boys team.

Kyrie’ Chandler nailed three 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, including 10 in the first half, to lead North Cobb. She also had four rebounds, six steals and two assists.

Amber Reeves collected 14 points, going 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, and pulled down nine boards while dishing out six assists. Briah Woods, who had two 3s, scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half, and had 15 rebounds and three steals.

Sierra Barrino contributed seven points and 12 boards, and Aniya Corley totaled seven points and three assists off the bench.

North Cobb started strong in staking its way to a 14-4 first-quarter lead, but Coffee’s switch to a zone defense forced the Lady Warriors into errant long jump shots. North Cobb’s transition defense didn’t do itself any favors either, giving the Lady Trojans (16-12) an opportunity to comeback.

Sonya Franklin scored nine of her 14 first half points in the first quarter to help pull Coffee to within 17-13. The Lady Trojans kept pace with the Lady Warriors in the second and trailed 32-26 at halftime.

“We didn’t hit shots early and we didn’t get into our defensive rotation early,” North Cobb coach Matt Williams said. “We changed our approach to the way we did things in the second half and we got what we were looking for.

“It was a tale of two half. We rebounded better in the second half, our transition defense was better and our transition offense was better, too. We were able to put points on the board, and we limited the damage their scorers did to us in the first half.

Three players — Franklin, Danielle Lott and Ashleigh Paulk — combined to score all 26 of Coffee’s first-half points. Lott had eight at halftime and Paulk had four.

Franklin finished with 20 points to go with nine rebounds. Lott added four second-half points and 12 for the game, while Paul was held scoreless in the second half.

The result allowed North Cobb to outscore Coffee 35-14 in the second half, including 16-4 in the third quarter. The Lady Warriors owned a 48-30 lead at the end of the third period en route to the 17-point win.

Chandler and Woods each had 10 points in the second half and North Cobb made 17 of 24 free throws in the contest.

“Our goal is to get further in the state tournament than we’ve ever been,” Williams said. “The last two years, we’ve made it to the elite eight, so this was just the first step in one our goals this postseason.”