RABBITTOWN — When Carly Winters is in the zone, the East Hall girls know exactly what to do with the basketball -- make sure it's in her hands.
The senior sharp-shooter poured in 38 points, including draining nine 3-pointers and scoring 17 straight points at one stretch, to lead the Lady Vikings to a thrilling, 75-74 overtime victory over rival Banks County Wednesday night at the East Hall gym.
Winters opened the extra frame with a trifecta of 3-pointers as part of her 17-point outburst as East Hall ran out to a 73-64 lead it would never relinquish.
East Hall coach Justin Wheeler said it is fun to watch when Winters gets going. The 38 points was one off her career-high.
“She’s been in the zone the last couple of games, really,” Wheeler said. “The girls know she can hit from anywhere and when she gets going they know what to do. But Carly does a lot more than just score. She’s a great passer as well and can play some defense.”
It was a needed win for the Lady Vikings (3-4) who have played a tough opening schedule. However, it could have left them frustrated after they led for most of the game before the Lady Leopards (4-2) staged a furious fourth quarter rally to grab the lead.
“It was a quality win for us. Banks is a very good team and beat us earlier in the year so we needed something like this,” Wheeler said. “What I liked the most was that we led a big portion of the game and then fell behind, and instead of giving up the girls fought back. We’ve actually been playing pretty well but hopefully a game like this can give us a little momentum.”
After Winters’ barrage to open the overtime, Allison Smith pulled the Lady Leopards back to 73-71 with 58 seconds left. But two free throws by East Hall’s Maggie Griffin with 8 seconds remaining provided the cushion, as Jaycie Bowen drained a 3-pointer at the final buzzer for Banks County.
The Lady Leopards jumped out to a quick 4-0 run in the opening minute of the game, but the East Hall defense went to work, forcing four straight turnovers to spark a 9-0 run and a lead it would not relinquish until the wild fourth quarter.
Ivey Shadburn led the early offensive charge for the Lady Vikings with eight points in the period as they turned eight Banks County turnovers into 13 points and a 15-12 lead going into the second quarter.
East Hall opened the second quarter with an 8-4 run, capped by a Winters 3-pointer, and then got 3-pointers from Griffin and Winters to cap an 11-6 run to close out the half for a 31-22 lead. The Lady Vikings looked to be taking control opening up a 39-26 lead on a Winters’ 3-pointer early in the third quarter. But Banks County started chipping away.
Amber Williams capped a 10-0 run to pull Banks County within 39-36 in the third quarter. East Hall took a 45-40 lead into the final period but Banks County finally caught the Lady Vikings when a Bowen basket with 2:37 left capped a 14-6 run to give the Lady Leopards their first lead since the opening minute at 58-56.
Banks County’s biggest lead came at 63-58 on a Williams free throw with 18 seconds left but the Lady Leopards could not hold on.
Winters was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws with 1.6 seconds left to send the game to overtime after she had nailed a long 3-pointer with 8 seconds to bring the Lady Vikings within 63-61.
Banks County’s Smith had a chance to ice the game but hit just 1-of-2 free throws with 7.2 seconds left leaving the door open and setting up the frantic finish.
Jenny Lopez finished with 9 points and Shadburn had 8 points for East Hall.
Bowen poured in 25 points and Williams added 14 points for Banks County. But turnovers were a factor as the Lady Leopards had 23 for the game. They also were just 17-of-26 from the foul line.
East Hall hit 13 3-pointers for the game but was just 7-of-12 from the foul line for the game. The Lady Vikings have hit 30 3-pointers in their last two games.
BANKS COUNTY BOYS 83,
EAST HALL 64
The Leopards overcame a sluggish start as five players scored in double figures in a road win over the rival Vikings.
Banks County (6-0) came in as the third highest-scoring team in Class AA at 76.6 points a game but early on it looked like they wouldn’t come anywhere near that figure.
East Hall (1-4) stormed out of the locker room taking a quick 15-5 lead forcing six Banks County turnovers as five different players scored. It wasn’t until a technical foul was called on coach Mike Cleveland following a wild series of fouls that the Leopards finally woke up.
Banks County trimmed the lead to 15-11 on a 4-point play by Gabe Martin on a 3-pointer and free throw to end the first quarter. The Vikings pushed the lead back to 21-11 on a pair of Deonte Evans 3-pointers but Banks County exploded over the final seven minutes behind Dylan Orr.
The Leopards used a 20-4 run, highlighted by a pair of Orr stick-back dunks, for a 31-25 lead.
The Vikings climbed within 33-31 on a Qua Butler basket with 30 seconds left but Wes Ledford dropped in a bouncing 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 36-31 Banks County lead.
“East Hall came out strong to start the game and we didn’t play very well in the first half,” Cleveland said. “I thought we did a much better job of things in the second half.”
Banks County opened the third quarter with an 8-3 run for a 44-34 lead. East Hall rallied to within 53-49 on a 3-pointer by Luke Cooper to open the fourth quarter but the Leopards exploded over the next four minutes.
Gabe Martin ignited a 20-7 run with a 3-pointer and a pair of Darius Bonds free throws capped it for a 73-56 lead. East Hall never got closer the rest of the way.
Orr paced Banks County with 20 points and added four blocks as well. Martin finished with 15 points, Carl Cleveland had 15, all coming in the second half, and Bonds and Wes Lunsford chipped in 11 each.
Butler finished with 14 points to lead East Hall. Cooper added 13 points, Jayvion Rucker had 9, and Evans 8 for the Vikings.
Banks County did a lot of damage at the foul line hitting 24-of-35 for the game. East Hall was just 9-of-16 from the line.
