Monday March 18th, 2024 11:25PM

8-AAAAA Tournament: Branch girls, GHS boys advance to finals; Lady Elephants fall in semis

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

WINDER — Courtney Newton’s return home couldn’t be going any better.

The first-year Flowery Branch girls coach, who starred for the Lady Falcons as a prep player, guided them to their first Lanierland title in a decade in December. They finished with the best regular season record in 8-AAAAA.

But even after Friday night’s gritty 41-36 win over Winder-Barrow in the Region 8-AAAAA semifinals at the Winder gym, there is still at least one item on the bucket list: a first-ever region title for the program.

“That has been our goal all year,” Newton said afterwards.

They’ll get that chance when they take on Loganville, which knocked off Gainesville 45-38 in the other semifinal, in the finals at 6 p.m. Saturday at Winder-Barrow.

“We worked hard to get to the title game. Now we just need one more win,” Newton said.

The victory over the host Lady Bulldoggs did not come easy. The Lady Falcons (25-1) never led by more than eight and the two teams swapped four leads in the first quarter alone.

Winder (22-5) led at 2-0, 5-4, and 9-7 after a pair of Lexi Maddox free throws with 1:22 left in the period. But Flowery Branch, capped by five consecutive points from Taniyah Worth, used a 10-0 run into the second quarter to take a 17-9 lead.

The Lady Falcons maintained a 4 to 6-point lead until Winder-Barrow closed out the third quarter with a 6-0 run to grab a 28-26 lead. It would be the Lady Bulldoggs’ last, however.

Senior Maddie Hetzel drained a 3-pointer early in the fourth for a 29-28 lead and capped an 11-4 run with her third trey of the period as the Lady Falcons built a 37-32 lead with 2:26 left.

“We had a letdown in the third quarter and someone needed to step up and I was just able to make some shots,” Hetzel said.

“Those (3-pointers) were huge,” Newton said.

Perhaps the biggest key of the game was the Lady Falcons defense on Winder’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa. The 6-foot-4 sophomore post player was held without a field goal for the first time all season and just five free throws for the game.

“She killed us the other two games so it was a point of emphasis for us,” Newton said. “We did a great job on her but we let their two guards hurt us this time. Winder is a tough matchup for anyone and will be a tough out for whoever they play (in the playoffs).”

Freshman guard Chellia Watson hit from inside and out to lead Winder-Barrow with 13 points. Fellow sophomore guard Latrice Perkins added 12 for the Lady Bulldoggs.

Hetzel paced Flowery Branch with 13 points. Worth and Julianne Sutton added nine points apiece. Breana Locke had two points for Flowery Branch in her first action since the Lanierland tournament.

“It was good to see Breana get back out there,” Newton said.

Winder-Barrow will take on Gainesville at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Winder gym in the third-place game.

On the boys side, Gainesville held off Salem 60-55 while Cedar Shoals whipped Heritage, Conyers 53-39 to advance. The Red Elephants will take on the Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. in the boys final. Salem and Heritage, Conyers will play in the third-place game at 4:30 p.m.

GAINESVILLE BOYS 60,
SALEM 55

The Class AAAAA fourth-ranked Red Elephants set up the dream finals with No. 5 Cedar Shoals with their win over the Seminoles in the semifinals.

Gainesville (20-4) took control early running out to a quick 12-1 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Harry Oliver and Tae Turner. Five different players scored in the first quarter, which ended with a 21-8 Red Elephants lead.

Gainesville continued its onslaught in the second quarter pushing its lead to 34-14 late in the period. The Seminoles (17-10) closed out the second quarter on a 6-2 run to get within 36-20 by halftime.

But Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said that’s where the good vibes ended.

“We started well but we didn’t finish well,” Wood said. “We will have to play a lot better to beat Cedar Shoals.”

Salem fought back in the second half. After Gainesville pushed its lead back to 39-20, the Seminoles forced three Gainesville turnovers to spark an 11-3 run that cut the Red Elephants' lead to 42-31 with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

Behind six straight points from D’Marcus Simonds, Gainesville retook control with a 13-4 run into the fourth quarter for a 54-35 lead. The Seminoles stormed back again using a 7-0 run to pull within 54-42 with 3:25 left.

Salem continued to chip away late, helped by the Red Elephants going just 6-of-13 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. But the Seminoles could only get as close as the final score with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Simonds paced Gainesville with 15 points. Turner finished with 12 points, Michael White had 11, and Messiah Dorsey eight for the Red Elephants.

Salem was led by a game-high 20 points from Brannon Smith. Devontae Hedgesperth added 18 for the Seminoles.

LOGANVILLE GIRLS 45,
GAINESVILLE 38

A strange 70 second span set the tone for Gainesville, which struggled from the field and in holding down Loganville center Shak Bimpa.

Neither team scored until the Lady Red Devils’ Daijah Cousins hit a long 3-pointer with 6:40 left in the first quarter. After the shot, Gainesville was called for a technical foul on a scorebook issue and Cousins drained both free throws for a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Red Elephants then committed two turnover that were converted into baskets and Loganville led 9-0. While Gainesville recovered enough to take a 20-19 lead midway through the second quarter, it would be its only lead of the game as Bimpa converted a pair of stick-back baskets late in the quarter to reclaim the lead for Loganville, 26-22 by halftime.

The Lady Red Devils never trailed again.

“It was a very physical game and and we had poor shot selection and just couldn’t get any rhythm going,” Gainesville coach Brenda Hill-Gilmore said. “Just a tough loss for us.”

A Bimpa stick-back basket early in the third quarter helped Loganville push its lead to 30-23. The Lady Red Devils could never shake Gainesville but the Lady Red Elephants never did get over the hump either.

A Cori Griffith 3-pointer and a pair of baskets by Taylor Hawks pulled Gainesville even at 32 with 1:14 left in the third quarter but the Lady Red Elephants twice could not convert after Loganville turnovers to take the lead over the next 20 seconds.

Cousins drained another 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in the third quarter for a 35-32 lead. Three times in the fourth quarter Gainesville got to within a basket but missed three shots and committed three turnovers with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Loganville didn’t blister the nets but was 7-of-13 from the free throw line in the final 1:53 to put the game away. The Lady Red Devils were 13-of-25 from the line while Gainesville was just 2-for-6 from the line for the game.

Bimpa finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to pace Loganville. Cousins added nine points and Imani Arnold eight for the Lady Red Devils.

Hawks led Gainesville with 11 points, but fouled out late as the Lady Red Elephants were trying to stage a comeback. Kayla Kelly and Breana Fair each added seven points and Shikaya Brown had six for Gainesville.

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