SUWANEE — At times it looked like your typical season-opener: turnovers, missed shots, miscommunications on defense.
At others, however, Gainesville’s 74-57 win over Langston Hughes Saturday night in the Jared Cook Tip-Off Classic at North Gwinnett High School left you with the distinct impression that they are already onto something big.
It was perhaps the marquee matchup in Class AAAAAA in the opening week of the season with the Red Elephants ranked second and the Panthers ranked third in the preseason polls.
Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said it was way too early to take anything significant from the win, but he acknowledged that his team showed its potential at times.
“It was just the first game of the season and rankings don’t really mean anything,” he said. “But I think this team has a chance to be real good. We saw what they can do a few times out there.”
Seven different players scored, paced by 20 from junior KJ Buffen, and the defense produced 24 turnovers, including 15 steals. And while the roster is stocked full of experienced juniors, it was sophomore Brent Kelly that gave the Red Elephants (1-0) the push they needed early.
The Panthers (0-1) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead as the Red Elephants started the game 0-for-7 from the field with three turnovers. But junior Xavier Bledson found Kelly for a fast break basket and Kelly added another basket and then drew a charge on the defensive end on the following Hughes possession.
Bledson then took over dishing off to Buffen for a driving basket and after a Bledson steal he found Bailey Minor on back-to-back possessions to cap an 11-0 run. Gainesville never trailed again and the Panthers never got closer than five the rest of the way and never got closer than 11 after the opening basket of the second quarter.
“Brent was the spark for us. He’s been doing that every day in practice,” Wood said. “Xavier played well all night.”
Bledson finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Minor and Kajuan Hale had 10 points each, and Kelly finished with nine points. Buffen had nine rebounds for Gainesville.
Gainesville kept the pressure on using its defense to force five more turnovers in the first quarter and close out the period with a 20-6 run for a 20-12 lead. The Red Elephants opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run to push the lead to 28-14.
The Panthers cut into the lead behind Khalil Cuffe, who scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer, to pull within 34-24. After two Hale free throws, Bledson drained a long 3-pointer to help Gainesville take a 39-26 lead into halftime.
It could have been an even bigger lead if not for the 13-of-35 shooting (37 percent) by Gainesville in the first half.
The Red Elephants continued to expand their lead in the third quarter behind the defense. They forced four early turnovers and a Bledson 3-pointer gave them a 52-34 lead.
Hughes chipped away in the final two minutes of the period with a 9-4 spurt to pull within 56-43, capped by a Landers Nolley 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Cuffe got Hughes within 58-47 on a jumper with 5:56 left but that’s as close as the Panthers would get. A driving floater by Kelly just over a minute later capped a quick 10-1 run for Gainesville for its biggest lead of the game, 68-48.
Wood said the versatility of the roster will be its strength.
“It was good to see a lot of guys contributing,” he said. “They are a very unselfish group and I think we showed at times we can be a very good team. But we still have a lot of things to clean up.
“It’s just the first game and as long as they stay humble and hungry they’ll be okay. I was pleased with it being our first game.”
Nolley for the Panthers finished with a game-high 24 points, 15 coming in the second half.
Gainesville was 18-of-28 from the free throw line while Hughes was just 8-of-14.
The Red Elephants will be off until next Friday when they will play Mt. Bethel in a tournament at Milton High School.
NOTES: The one blemish for the Red Elephants was junior Jarrel Rosser, who left the game in the opening two minutes with an ankle injury and never returned. Wood said his status is unknown and he was in a boot from the second quarter on.
