GAINESVILLE — It has been the kind of thing that has plagued the Flowery Branch girls in recent years: crucial moment of a close game in a must-win scenario only to falter at the end.
There was no falter this time, however.
This time junior Julianne Sutton’s soft bank shot with 3.6 seconds left lifted the Class AAAAA No. 4 Lady Falcons to a thrilling, 45-42 victory over No. 9 Gainesville on Tuesday.
“It was a big, big win for us. A big learning experience for us in how to finish in close games,” first-year coach Courtney Newton said. “We’ve only had two close games this year -- both against Gainesville -- so this is something we needed to be able to keep getting better.”
The victory avenged the Lady Falcons' (20-1, 10-1 Region 8-AAAAA) only loss of the season and pulled them into a tie for first place with the Lady Red Elephants (14-4, 10-1) with four games left in the regular season. Gainesville beat Flowery Branch 60-48 two weeks ago in Flowery Branch.
Sutton said it took a moment to realize just how big her shot, which turned into a three-point play to break a 42-42 tie, was.
“I didn’t know how much time was left so when I saw just three seconds I got real excited,” she said. “It was a big win because it was a rival game against friends and big for the region. We didn’t want to give them any time to try and score.”
A deflected pass thwarted a Gainesville attempt at the end.
Something had to give. Gainesville came into the game perfect at home (7-0) while the Lady Falcons were unbeaten on the road (7-0).
From the opening tip both defenses -- just like in their first meeting -- proved tough to crack. The Lady Falcons missed their first four shots while the Lady Red Elephants missed their first five shots of the game.
Gainesville’s Taylor Hawks broke a 1-1 tie with the first field goal of the game with 6:44 of the first quarter for a 3-1 lead. Flowery Branch got its first basket of the game a minute later on a Taniyah Worth stick-back. The Lady Red Elephants took their final lead of the first half at 5-3 on a pair of Hawks free throws with 5:00 left in the opening period.
It was all Flowery Branch the rest of the half. Sutton tied the game at 5 with another stick-back basket for the Lady Falcons and Lexie Sengkhammee recaptured the lead, 8-5, two minutes later on a three-point play.
Flowery Branch took a 10-7 lead into the second quarter and used a 14-5 run, capped by a Sengkhammee 3-pointer, for a 24-12 lead with 2:55 left in the first half. The Lady Falcons led 26-17 at halftime.
Both offenses had to work for anything they got. Flowery Branch held Gainesville to just 5-of-27 shooting in the first half and forced seven turnovers. Gainesville forced 11 Flowery Branch turnovers but the Lady Falcons were 10-of-27 from the field in the first half.
But things turned around quickly in the second half. Gainesville opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run, with Briana Fair pouring in 10 of her game-high 15 points for a 32-28 lead. A pair Tija Blackwell free throws at 3:16 of the third quarter gave the Lady Red Elephants their biggest lead at 36-30. Gainesville hit 6 of its first 8 shots in the third quarter.
The Lady Red Elephants were able to maintain a 2- to 3-point lead into the fourth quarter but Kayla Kelly’s basket with 5:01 left for a 40-38 lead would be their last field goal of the game. Two Hawks free throws with 3:23 left for a 42-39 lead would be Gainesville’s final points.
In fact, neither team would score again Maddie Hetzel’s 3-pointer with 1:10 left tied the game at 42. Gainesville had the ball for a potential last possession but turned the ball over on an offensive foul with 43.8 seconds to go giving the Lady Falcons a final chance.
They didn’t waste it.
“We didn’t play a good second half and (Gainesville) came out strong in the third quarter,” Newton said. “But we talk about not quitting when things go bad and the girls did a great job of staying in the game. I thought our defense in the fourth quarter was excellent and that gave us a chance at the end.”
“Coach has talked to us about coming back when we’re down. Hopefully this should prepare us as a team to stick together,” Sutton said.
Flowery Branch won despite finishing with 24 turnovers for the game. Gainesville had 16 turnovers, nine the second half and six in the fourth quarter.
Hawks finished with 13 points and Blackwell added seven for Gainesville.
Sutton led Flowery Branch with 13 points. Hetzel had nine points and Worth had eight points and nine rebounds for the Lady Falcons.
Flowery Branch next will travel to take on a Winder-Barrow team on Friday that has won 15 games and is fourth in the region. Gainesville travels to Lanier on Thursday in a make-up game from last week.
GAINESVILLE BOYS 73,
FLOWERY BRANCH 45
Gainesville opened the game with an 11-0 run and used a 14-0 run to end the first half en route to the lopsided Region 8-AAAAA win.
The Red Elephants (14-4, 11-0 Region 8-AAAAA) remained perfect at home (8-0) with the victory. They also maintained a slim one-game lead over Cedar Shoals (21-2, 11-1) for first place.
“I was proud of how our kids came out and especially on the defensive end,” Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said. “Every game in the region is big right now.”
Gainesville forced 25 Flowery Branch turnovers for the game. The Red Elephants starters had just five turnovers through the first three quarters.
Senior D’Marcus Simonds was the early catalyst for Gainesville with three 3-pointers and a rim-rattling windmill dunk as they ran out to a 21-3 lead and took a 24-6 lead into the second quarter.
Flowery Branch boys (12-8, 3-7) pulled within 35-18 but the Red Elephants blew it open closing out the first half on a 14-0 run for a 49-18 halftime lead.
Gainesville continued the onslaught in the third quarter opening with a 12-4 run for a 61-22 lead, its biggest of the game.
Simonds finished with 22 points and four assists to lead Gainesville. K.J. Buffen added 16 points and seven rebounds and Bailey Minor had 16 points and four rebounds for the Red Elephants.
Brannon Clark had 15 points to lead Flowery Branch. John Mills added nine points for the Falcons.
