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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, December 28, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL I Lanierlandboys
Convincing victory
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Gainesville’s Brent Kelly celebrates after making a basket against Cherokee Bluff during Thursday’s Lanierland
game at Chestatee High in Gainesville.
Gainesville storms past Cherokee Bluff in first round
BY NATHAN BERG AND SARAH
WOODALL
sports@gainesvilletimes.com
For Gainesville coach Chuck
Graham, Thursday’s first-round
Lanierland contest against Chero
kee Bluff was almost like a prac
tice. After working with Bears
coach Benjie Wood for six years
at Gainesville, Graham knew just
what to expect going up against his
former teammate, and it showed.
The defending champion Red
Elephants converted an explosive
third quarter performance into
an easy 76-65 win over Cherokee
Bluff to advance to a Lanierland
semifinal game against Lakeview
Academy on Friday.
“We’ve been on the same side
line for about six years,” Graham
said of Wood. “I know what kind of
coach he is. Great guy with Xs and
Os and getting the kids prepared
to play. I kind of felt like it was
going to be a practice. We’ve been
over this scenario many times in
practice with him when we were
together.”
Rafael Rubel led Gainesville
(6-6) with 16 points while grab
bing three steals and dishing out a
handful of assists. Griffin Neville
paced the Bears (8-7), scoring 29
on the night.
To start, the contest was an
entertaining, back-and-forth
affair.
Gainesville started hot behind
a 3-pointer from Rubel followed
by a steal and dish from Rubel to
Datavian Buffington that put the
Red Elephants up 5-0 early.
The Bears responded with five
unanswered baskets, each made
Gainesville’s Rafael Rubel attempts to score while Cherokee Bluff’s Jaylon
Justice, right, and Connor Boyd attempt to block during Thursday’s game in
Gainesville.
by a different Cherokee Bluff
player. The quick run gave the
first-year team a seven-point lead
about midway through the open
ing frame.
The teams began to exchange
baskets from there — Gainesville
attempting to chip away at the
deficit while Cherokee Bluff con
tinuously responded, keeping the
■ Please see BOYS, 3B
Semifinals schedule
Today’s games
at West Hall High
Boys
■ North Hall vs. East Hall, 5 p.m.
■ Lakeview Academy vs.
Gainesville, 8 p.m.
Girls
■ North Hall vs. Gainesville,
3:30 p.m.
■ Chestatee vs. Flowery Branch,
6:30 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKCTBALL
Lanierland girls
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch’s Ashley Woodroffe attempts to dribble past
Cherokee Bluff’s Alexis Mize during Thursday’s Lanierland
game at Chestatee High in Gainesville.
Lady Falcons
push on to
the semifinals
Flowery Branch opened with
win against Cherokee Bluff
BY NATHAN BERG AND
SARAH WOODALL
sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Coming off of three
straight Lanierland titles,
the Flowery Branch girls
basketball team knows how
to win at the Hall County
winter tournament. The
Lady Falcons proved that
Thursday night in their 55-43
win over Cherokee Bluff in
their opening-round game.
With the win, Flowery
Branch will face Chestatee
in the tournament semifi
nals at 6:30 p.m. tonight at
West Hall.
The Lady Falcons (10-3)
were led by Ashley Wood-
roffe’s 21 points. Freshman
Timber Gaither paced Cher
okee Bluff (7-7), pouring in
14 over the course of the
contest.
The Lady Bears started
strong on a pair of 3s from
Gaither and Maddie Thomas
to take an early lead, but
it was all Flowery Branch
from there.
Wysocki scored the first
two baskets for the Lady
Falcons and then assisted on
the next two makes by Ash
ley Woodroffe.
Ashley Scott hit on a wide
open trey following a dish
out from Ashlee Locke, and
First round games
a Woodroffe make as time
expired in the first quarter
gave Flowery Branch a 14-8
lead.
The Lady Falcons stayed
steady offensively in the sec
ond frame, but their defense
stepped up in a big way.
Flowery Branch scored
another 14 points in the
period while holding the
Lady Bears to just two — a
pair of Gaither free throws.
The dominant effort gave
the Lady Falcons a 28-10
lead at halftime, which
proved too big a hole for
Cherokee Bluff to climb out.
Woodroffe exploded for
12 third-quarter points as the
Lady Falcons pushed their
lead ever higher, leading by
22 entering the final quarter.
And while Cherokee Bluff
outplayed Flowery Branch
over the final eight minutes,
outscoring the Lady Falcons
17-9, it was too little too late
from the first-year program,
as the No. 1 seed cruised to
its first-round win.
NORTH HALL GIRLS 60,
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY
59: Everything that typically
makes for an exciting finish
at Lanierland transpired in
the first-round matchup at
Chestatee.
■ Please see GIRLS, 3B
Thursday’s scores
at Chestatee High
Boys
■ Gainesville boys 76, Cherokee Bluff 65
■ Lakeview Academy 60, West Hall 42
■ North Hall boys 55, Flowery Branch 46
■ East Hall 62, Johnson 49
Consolation
■ Chestatee boys 86, Lanier Christian 67
Girls
■ Flowery Branch 55, Cherokee Bluff 43
■ North Hall 60, Lakeview Academy 59
■ Chestatee girls 60, West Hall 34
■ Gainesville 70, East Hall 62
E\KE LANIER FISHING REPORT
Bass anglers can hit varying depths for great bite
BY ERIC ALDRICH
For The Times
Lake Lanier is presently at
1,070.68 or .33 below the normal
full pool of 1,071. Expect that to
rise again with the rain forecast for
the nest week. Lake surface tem
peratures are around 50 degrees.
The main lake and lower lake
creeks are clear in mouths and
stained in the backs. The upper
lake and rivers are slightly stained
but expect them to get muddy
after the incoming rains. The Chat
tahoochee below Buford Dam is
clear but it will also get muddy
after any rain.
Check generation schedules
before heading out to the river
below Buford Dam at 770-945-1466.
Bass: The bass are biting well
and not much has changed from
last week. The best bite is com
ing from deep water, but we have
found some bass shallow too. The
past week’s mild weather has
allowed bass to sun themselves
around docks close to deep water.
The most frequent question I
get in asked in winter is “What is
a ditch?” The answer is simple. A
ditch is any well-defined depres
sion or channel on the bottom.
Small feeder creeks or rain runoffs
that you can see on the bank give
away the best areas to target. We
also refer to ditches as “bass high
ways” because they use ditches to
travel from shallow into deeper
water.
Once you locate a defined ditch,
you can use your mapping soft
ware along with quality electron
ics like my Lowrance Carbon units
to locate variables in the ditch. If
you locate a ditch that has a curve,
bend, rocks, brush or any variation
from 25 to 55 feet deep, you will
probably find bass hanging out.
This week we have had some
warmer-than-normal weather.
Anytime the sun shines and the
weather creeps above 50 degrees,
the bass tend to react favorably by
moving shallower where they are
easier to catch. When you encoun
ter bass in under 25 feet in the win
ter, you can almost bank that they
will be active and easier to catch.
A shaky head like a Gamakatsu
Alien Head rigged with a straight
tail worm like a Lanier Baits Fruity
Worm or a Big Bites Finesse worm
in green or shad colors will work
well. Other lures like a Fish Head
Spin or a deep diving crank bait
like the new SPRO Super DD Little
John 90 will also get the job done.
Work the shaky head slowly along
the bottom. Do the same with the
Fish Head Spin. Crank the Little
John slow and steady and try to
keep your lure in contact with the
bottom. You can get this crank bait
to run even deeper by kneeling
and reeling with the rod tip pushed
under water as deep as you can.
Other techniques have come
into play this week. Fishing a SPRO
McStick 110 or a McRip deeper
diving jerk bait around windy
points and over humps have been
working well. Rocky bluff walls
are also good places to fish jerk
baits. Use an erratic jerk, jerk and
pause retrieve. This lure imitates
a wounded bait fish and it can pull
bass up from deeper water. Jerk
baits are a great big bass lure in
colder water. You may only catch
five bass a day on a jerk bait but
they tend to be bigger fish.
The most popular and produc
tive lures have been the spoon and
jig. Usually I start my day shallow
in the ditches, but recently we have
located bass at the end of ditches
very early in the day. These feed
ing fish will eat a 1 /2-ounce Hop
kins or Flex-It spoon. I have also
had good luck with Lanier Baits
Runts on a dropshot rig. These
smaller offerings mimic the small
threadfin shad that the bass are
eating.
My favorite fishing method is
the jig. We boated three fish over 5
pounds this past week by dragging
the jig down deeper rocky banks.
When fishing a jig, try to count the
rocks as your lure descends. This
will help ensure you are staying in
■ Please see FISHING, 2B
