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Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
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gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, December 27, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL I 59th annualLanierland
Time to find out who’s best
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch’s Caroline Wysocki shoots the ball during a game against Chestatee on
Dec. 7 in Flowery Branch.
Flowery Branch girls looking to
continue run with 4th straight title
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.
com
Days prior, the Flowery
Branch High girls basket
ball team was out west,
gazing at one of the Seven
Natural Wonders of the
World that is the Grand
Canyon.
A breathtaking detour
at the end a holiday trip
to Phoenix, Ariz., where
the Lady Falcons played
amongst many of the top
programs in the country
during the Nike Tourna
ment of Champions on
Dec. 19-22.
Flowery Branch went
2-2 during what is consid
ered the most prestigious
basketball tournament
— boys and girls — in the
nation, capping off the
three-day stint with a 45-35
win over West Campus
(Calif.) on Saturday.
Both the Lady Falcons’
victories came after drop
ping the first two contests,
the first via buzzer beater
against two-time defending
Class AA champion Upper-
man (Tenn.) on opening
day.
Up to 96 teams from
across the U.S. partici
pated, including the major
ity of the preseason top 25.
The experience, girls
coach Courtney Newton-
Gonzalez said, was a way
to expose her girls to com
petition they don’t typi
cally see on a regular basis,
and a means to prepare
them for the state playoffs
around the bend.
Also helps that it backs
into the annual northeast
Georgia basketball extrav
aganza that is Lanierland.
And this year, three-time
defending Hall County
champion Flowery Branch
carries the giant target on
its back for the 59th-install-
ment of Lanierland open
ing tonight in Gainesville.
The Lady Falcons (9-3)
look to become the first
squad to win four-consecu
tive titles since West Hall’s
girls (1997-2000).
Of course, it won’t be a
walk in the park. Newton-
Gonzalez would know as
someone to win the presti
gious county championship
as both a player and coach.
“When you’ve won it
three years in a row, of
course you’re the team to
beat,” said Newton-Gon-
zalez, in her fourth sea
son as the Lady Falcons
coach. “And people, they
want to win. That’s what
makes Lanierland so spe
cial, is that anybody can
win it on any given year.
Just because we’ve won
it the last couple of years,
doesn’t mean it’s not gonna
be a battle. We know that
it is.”
Newton-Gonzalez also
is without the talents of
2018 graduates Taniyah
Worth and Lexie Sengk-
hammee, vital pieces to
the program’s first-ever
three-peat at Lanierland
and the Lady Falcons
reaching the state cham
pionship game last season.
Worth, a former three-time
Lanierland MVP, now
plays for Alabama. Sen-
gkhammee meanwhile,
is part of the Emmanuel
College program. Newton-
Gonzalez still returns three
seniors out of last season’s
starting five which carry
on the winning tradition.
Mirroring Lanierland’s
three-day grind is another
element gained from the
Tournament of Champi
ons out west — especially
for Flowery Branch’s
two starting sophomores.
Second-year post player
Ashlee Locke benefited
greatly, posting her mon
ster triple double that
included 11 blocks in a win
over Chaparral (Colorado)
last Friday.
“We still have a lot of
youth in there... But the
seniors that have been
on our team have experi
enced a lot of success —
with Lanierland and a lot
of state runs we’ve made,”
the Lady Falcons coach
added. “But they know that
each year is different, and
they know they’ve got to
continue to grow, continue
to work hard to accomplish
what this team wants to
accomplish.”
Top-seeded Flowery
Branch this year will be up
against an expanded field,
beginning against new
comer Cherokee Bluff in
the opening round tonight.
Lanier Christian Academy
is the other new addition to
the bracket and will take
the court in the ninth-place
game.
Besides the larger pool
of play, Alan Griffin of
Gainesville, Lindsay Jus
tice (Cherokee Bluff) and
Shawana Harrison (West
Hall) are first-year head
coaches set to make their
Lanierland debuts in the
main draw.
■ Please see GIRLS, 2B
TWUfcj
I w
:
7
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
North Hall’s Daniel Jackson lays the ball up with Johnson’s Jesse Harbin defending
during the game Dec. 21 in Gainesville.
Parity on boys side of the bracket
has handful of teams in title hunt
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Cherokee Bluff’s Bosko Norman dribbles around East
Hall’s Aaron Thomas during the game Dec. 11 in Flowery
Branch.
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
It’s that time of year
again.
The holiday season has
brought with it the 59th
edition of Hall County’s
Lanierland basketball
tournament, with first-
round games tipping off
at 9:30 a.m. today at Ches
tatee High.
The annual event will
once again pit eight Hall
County schools against
each other in a tournament
to establish which pro
gram’s team stands above
the rest.
“The tournament’s
always a special time,”
North Hall boys coach
Tyler Sanders said. “It’s
always right after Christ
mas, so we get a little
break and then get right
back into it in a very tough
region. The tournament
itself is tough every year.
You always look forward
to that competition. ”
This year’s event fea
tures many familiar faces
in head coaching positions
as well as a few newcom
ers on the boys side. Benjie
Wood, who won the Lani
erland in 2017 as Gaines
ville’s coach, returns at the
helm of first-year school
Cherokee Bluff, fresh off
a win in a play-in game
against Chestatee last
week.
Meanwhile, No. 1 seed
Gainesville as well as two-
seed East Hall each sport
new head coaches, with
Chuck Graham (Red Ele
phants) and Seth Thomp
son (Vikings) taking over
for last year’s champion
ship competitors.
Graham said he’s been
excited to coach at Lani
erland since being pro
moted to the top position at
Gainesville.
“I’m looking forward
most of all to the atmo
sphere,” he said. “You
have all the schools in the
area really at one place.
It becomes pretty excit
ing. All the games feel like
state tournament games.
To have your kids expe
rience that right before
region play is huge.”
Whether Gainesville and
East Hall repeat as final
ists, or lower seeded teams
pull upsets on the way to
the county championship,
another chapter will be
written in the history of
Hall County basketball.
“I think it’s the premiere
Christmas tournament in
the state,” Lakeview Acad
emy coach Todd Cottrell
said. “There are so many
great players and great
teams that have played in
it. The history is rich and
the tradition is rich. Hall
County has always had a
good reputation of hav
ing very good high school
basketball.”
Up first on the boys side,
West Hall faces Lakeview
Academy at 11 a.m.
The Lions come into the
tournament hot, following
a 20-point win over Flow
ery Branch in the Lakev
iew Invitational. Lakeview
Academy has won seven
of 11 games this year, and
two of the last three.
The Spartans, mean
while, have had a bumpier
■ Please see BOYS, 2B
Lanierland schedule
First-round games
Today
at Chestatee High
■ Chestatee boys vs. Lanier
Christian, 8 a.m.
■ Chestatee girls vs. West Hall,
9:30 a.m.
■ West Hall boys vs. Lakeview
Academy, 11 a.m.
■ Lakeview Academy girls vs.
North Hall, 12:30 p.m.
■ North Hall boys vs. Flowery
Branch, 2 p.m.
■ Gainesville girls vs. East Hall,
3:30 p.m.
■ Johnson boys vs. East Hall,
5 p.m.
■ Cherokee Bluff girls vs.
Flowery Branch, 6:30 p.m.
■ Cherokee Bluff boys vs.
Gainesville, 8 p.m.
Tickets $7 per day
