Glendon Poe | The Valdosta Daily TimesHahira Middle's Ella Sefa (11) attempts a shot against Pine Grove Middle during the championship match of a middle school tournament at Lowndes High School on Saturday afternoon.

VALDOSTA — Ella Sefa corralled her pregame nerves and used them to her advantage.

The Hahira Middle seventh-grader scored four goals in a 5-1 win against Pine Grove Middle in the championship match of the girls middle school tournament at Lowndes High School on Saturday afternoon.

After netting her first goal, Sefa’s confidence blossomed.

“I was just like, ‘We got it. We can win this thing. Let me get another one,’” she said.

Hahira pulled ahead 2-1 in the first half when Pine Grove was awarded a penalty kick with 8 minutes remaining in the half. Madeline Martin’s shot attempt was deflected over the top by the goalkeeper.

Sefa, who scored twice against Tift County’s Eight Street Middle, added to Hahira’s lead with a breaking run down the right side, shooting and scoring from inside the 18-yard box.

The message at the break was a simple one.

“We just said, ‘We’re not satisfied. We have to get more goals into the back of the net in order to feel like we’ve got this game in the bag,” Hahira coach Ashley Miller said. “And we did that. We came out in the second half strong.”

With 22 minutes remaining in the second half, Sefa broke through again to extend the advantage to 3-1. Two minutes later, she drilled a shot off the right crossbar.

Hahira capped the scoring with 8 minutes left.

“I thought they played amazing,” Sefa said. “I wish we were all staying together another year, but we’re not. Some of our best players are leaving to go to high school.”

Sefa said she’s looking forward to improving her game this summer with some practice time with Lowndes’ varsity players. And she’s thrilled about the team’s prospects for next season.

“We’ll have a great team, and hopefully come out here and win again,” she said.

Eighth Street Middle defeated Valdosta Middle 6-0 in the boys championship match.

The Tift County school led 2-0 at halftime and scored four goals in the final 13 minutes.

The Blue Devils had two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the match. Valdosta goalkeeper Xavier Pizzaro covered the ball for a save with 18 minutes remaining in the opening half before Luis Cardoso broke through 2 minutes later, giving the Blue Devils a lead.

Pizzaro made another save with 7 minutes left before Rajae Mickins scored a penalty kick with 6 minutes left to put the Blue Devils on top 2-0.

In the second half, Brayden Anderson replaced Pizzaro in goal with 15 minutes remaining after Pizzaro was injured in a collision. Anderson made a save 2 minutes later.

“I’m really proud of all our teams this weekend,” said Lowndes varsity boys coach Jordan Breit. “It was really exciting to have two Lowndes teams in the girls final and to have a Valdosta team in the boys final.

“We had Valdosta High School win a region championship Friday night, and Lowndes’ boys play for a region championship Tuesday night. These are some really great things and it’s exciting to think about what we can do when we get a soccer facility here in town.”