Thursday March 28th, 2024 8:47AM

Girls basketball: Big third quarter propels Lady Vikings to win

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter
RABBITTOWN -- The East Hall girls used a 15-0 run to close out the third quarter and then held on for a 43-36 win over rival Gainesville Saturday at the East Hall gym.

The Lady Vikings (7-12) trailed 17-16 at halftime and then fell behind 22-18 midway through the third quarter. But Tasia Bailey and Natalie Winters hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give them the lead for good.

"We were able to hit some big shots in the third quarter and that was huge," East Hall coach Joey Rider said. "I feel like defensively we are playing pretty well. Offensively it's still a struggle for us."

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for East Hall. It also avenged a 37-29 loss to Gainesville two weeks ago.

The loss for Gainesville (6-9) was its third straight.

"I feel we're getting better," Rider said. "This is the time of year when you need to start seeing improvement."

East Hall led 10-7 after the first quarter but the Lady Elephants used a 10-6 second quarter to grab the lead. Gainesville opened the third quarter with a 5-2 run but committed six turnovers in the final five minutes to help fuel East Hall's run.

The Lady Vikings really turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter forcing six Gainesville miscues to turn a 22-18 deficit into a 33-22 lead. East Hall would led by as many as 14 late in the fourth quarter before Gainesville closed out the game with a 7-0 run in the final minute for the final score.

East Hall got balanced scoring.

Aliah Burrows paced the Lady Vikings with eight points. Bailey, TT Shelton, A.J. Hendrix, and Chelsea Dale each had seven points for East Hall.

Gainesville was led by a game-high 12 points from Tamia Rucker. Angel Mickle added nine for the Lady Elephants.
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