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HIGH SCHOOL BASKCTBALL
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, December 28, 2018 3B
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Cherokee Bluff’s Griffin Neville attempts to dribble past Gainesville’s Rafael Rubel during
Thursday’s Lanierland game at Chestatee High in Gainesville.
BOYS
■ Continued from 1B
Bears at bay. The Red
Elephants held a six-point
lead after the opening eight
minutes.
But Gainesville started to
find its footing as the game
went on.
After continuing to go
back-and-forth for the first
couple of minutes in the
second quarter, the Red
Elephants took control for
a 13-0 run, turning their
deficit into a five-point
lead.
A pair of Neville makes
helped the Bears to draw
even by halftime, but the
needle had already started
moving in Gainesville’s
direction. The trend contin
ued throughout the second
half.
After a quick Buffing
ton basket to start things
off, Rubel picked Neville’s
pocket, sprinted down the
court and tossed a pass
behind his back to Julio
Santana for an easy layup.
“We started with low
energy at first, but then we
built it up and started play
ing well,” Rubel said via
a translator. “We thought
it was going to be an easy
game, but they came out
hustling, playing hard. The
second half, we started
pushing the ball, hustling.”
Gainesville scored the
first nine points of the third
quarter, and finished the
frame on a 12-2 run.
The Red Elephants held
a 16-point lead going into
the final quarter.
Neville did all he could
to overcome his old team,
scoring 11 of Cherokee
Bluff’s 16 points in the
fourth frame.
But it was to no avail, as
Gainesville played keep
away for the final few min
utes to close out the first-
round win.
“I was proud of our guys
effort, from top to bottom,”
Graham said.
EAST HALL BOYS 62,
JOHNSON 49: After scor
ing just 10 points in the
opening quarter and lead
ing by only a point at half
time, East Hall turned up
the heat down the stretch of
its first round win in Lani
erland at Chestatee.
With the win, the Vikings
will face North Hall in the
Lanierland semifinals at 5
p.m. today at West Hall.
The Vikings (8-6) were
led by Kylan Curry’s 24
points. Danny Garcia
scored 17 for Johnson (5-6).
At first, it appeared East
Hall would run away with
the contest.
T.J. Campbell hit a pair
of corner 3s on the Vikings
first two possessions to give
the team an early 6-0 lead.
But the Vikings cooled
off from there, hitting just
one more basket in the
opening frame. Johnson’s
offensive struggles were
just as pronounced.
The Knights missed six
first-quarter free throws,
hitting on only three shots
from the field.
East Hall carried a two-
point lead into the second
frame, but failed to expand
upon it before halftime.
A 7-2 Vikings run toward
the end of the second
period briefly gave East
Hall some breathing room,
but back-to-back three-
point plays from Johnson
narrowed the score once
again.
At halftime, the Vikings
clung to a one-point advan
tage, 28-27.
In the third quarter,
they started to distance
themselves.
Curry scored four points,
while Rucker picked up
three and added a steal and
a block.
East Hall locked down
on defense, allowing only
seven points and taking a
five-point lead into the final
frame.
Curry erupted from
there, putting in 13 East
Hall points and lobbing
an alley-oop up to Jayvion
Rucker as the Viking ran
away with the victory.
LAKEVIEW ACAD
EMY BOYS 60, WEST
HALL 42: Blake McIntyre
finished with a game-high
17 points for the Lions in
Gainesville’s Brent Kelly
takes control of the
ball against Cherokee
Bluff during Thursday’s
Lanierland game at
Chestatee High in
Gainesville. The Red
Elephants won 76-65.
the first round of the Lani
erland. With the win, the
Lions (8-4) will face Gaines
ville in the semifinals at 8
p.m. tonight at West Hall.
It was a tight first half for
the Lions (8-4) who were
only up by two at the end of
the first quarter.
The Lions went 5 for 6
from behind the 3-point
line in the second half, and
with Arturo Varela’s 15
points, were able to seal the
win.
NORTH HALL BOYS
55, FLOWERY BRANCH
46: Ty Smith scored 13
points and Luke Gunter
added another 12 for the
Trojans in the first round of
Lanierland.
With the win, the sixth-
seeded Trojans (5-9) will
face East Hall in the semi
finals at 5 p.m. today as
tournament action shifts to
West Hall High in Oakwood.
Mario Brown and
Trey Shaw each paced
the Falcons with 10 and
nine points, respectively.
Despite twice cutting the
margin to five points inside
the final five minutes,
Flowery Branch still came
up short.
North Hall scored seven
of the final 10 points of the
contest to pull away.
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AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch’s Shaina Kriews dribbles around Cherokee Bluff’s Timber Gaither during
Thursday’s Lanierland game at Chestatee High in Gainesville.
GIRLS
■ Continued from 1B
In a non-stop thrill ride
that came down to the final
possession, it was the No. 3
seeded Lady Trojans (10-
3) who squeaked by with a
buzzer-beating shot to win.
With the victory, North Hall
will face Gainesville in the
semifinals at 3:30 p.m. today
at West Hall.
After five lead changes
inside the final three min
utes, a pair of free throws by
Jackie Allen gave Lakeview
Academy (9-4) the initial
one-point edge with 10.2
seconds left. Racing against
the clock, North Hall point
guard Maci Gillespie col
lected the in-bounds pass on
the ensuing possession and
sprinted the length of the
court before swinging a pass
to Ansleigh Ferguson under
neath, and the post player
banked a layup in as time
expired.
Ferguson finished with
double-double numbers for
a game-high 18 points and
13 rebounds for North Hall.
North Hall made a com
bined nine 3s, getting three
from Ansley Smallwood
(nine points) and two each
from senior Kaylie Bell and
freshman Rylie McCall.
As for the Lady Lions,
they accrued 10 3-pointers
in the contest, and used that
success from outside the
arc to build a 37-32 halftime
lead, and maintain a two-
point edge going into the
final eight minutes. Allen
and Eliza Snyder had 15
points apiece to pace Lakev
iew Academy.
GAINESVILLE GIRLS
70, EAST HALL 62:
Tija Blackwell eclipsed
1,000-career points while
racking up a double-double
performance of 30 points
and 14 boards for the Lady
Red Elephants in the Lanier
land opener.
Blackwell, who entered
this year’s Lanierland tour
ney nine points shy of 1,000,
reached the milestone dur
ing the second period, inter
cepting a ball on defense and
finishing the takeaway with
a layup for a 16-15 Gaines
ville lead with 6:26 left in the
first half. The senior guard
also dished four assists and
had a pair of steals in the
win.
Fellow senior Tia Shelton
scored 20 of her 22 points
— including four 3s — in
the second half to boost the
Lady Red Elephants (7-4),
who move on to play three-
seed North Hall in the semi
finals at 3:30 p.m. today at
West Hall.
Gainesville slowly built a
15-point lead inside the final
four minutes. East Hall (6-9)
managed to trim the deficit
to six twice before the visi
tors pulled away. Ivey Shad-
burn led the Lady Vikings
with 16 points, followed by
Maggie Griffin with 15 and
freshman Alexis Burce with
10.
CHESTATEE GIRLS
60, WEST HALL 34: Mag
gie McNair led the Lady
War Eagles with 19 points
in the first-round victory at
Lanierland.
The No. 5 seeded Lady
War Eagles kept up a high
pressure from the get-go and
had nine steals, six in the
second half, along with eight
3-pointers to stay ahead.
With the win, Chestatee
moves on to play Flowery
Branch in the semifinals
at 6:30 p.m. tonight at West
Hall.
Also for the Lady War
Eagles, Nicole Sedwick
scored 13 points.
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