FLOWERY BRANCH — For the second time in three years the Flowery Branch and East Hall girls will meet in the finals of the Lanierland Tournament.
East Hall moved into the finals with a 57-47 win over West Hall while Flowery Branch dismantled North Hall 75-50 Friday night at the Flowery Branch gym. Tipoff is schedule for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Flowery Branch gym.
The Lady Falcons (9-3) are looking for their third consecutive Lanierland title while the Lady Vikings (7-6) are looking for their first title since 2011. Flowery Branch is trying to become the first girls team to win three straight since West Hall captured four in a row from 1997-2000.
The Lady Falcons won the 2015 title with a 72-49 romp over the Lady Vikings for their first title 2003. Despite the last finals meeting, Flowery Branch coach Courtney Newton said they are expecting a battle.
“It’s the Lanierland finals. It’s always a battle and we’re expecting one,” she said. “East Hall is playing well and I’m sure they’ll be ready for us.”
FLOWERY BRANCH GIRLS 75,
NORTH HALL 50
Lexi Sengkhemmee drained seven 3-pointers, a new school-record for 3-pointers in a game, for a game-high 21 points and the Lady Falcons used a 21-5 run in the second quarter to blow open a close game.
Flowery Branch never trailed opening the game with an 8-0 run. North Hall (6-5) closed to within 14-10 late in the first quarter on a Camilla Howell 3-pointer but Caroline Wysocki scored her third basket of the quarter moments later to help ignite the game-changing run that ended with the Lady Falcons holding a 35-15 lead.
Wysocki, a junior, finished with 14 points and is taking on more point guard responsibilities, which is opening things up for Sengkhemmee.
“Caroline is a big player for us this year,” Newton said. “She’s running the offense more for us and has really improved her game.”
Howell drained another 3-pointer for the Lady Trojans to open the third quarter but Wysocki capped a 15-4 run for a 50-28 lead to put the game out of reach. Flowery Branch led by as many 32 points at 68-36 on Sengkhemmee’s final trey of the game.
Howell finished with 15 points to lead North Hall.
Taniyah Worth had 16 points for the Lady Falcons.
EAST HALL GIRLS 57,
WEST HALL 47
The game plan was a simple on for the East Hall girls: stop West Hall shooter-extraordinaire Anna McKendree.
The Lady Vikings managed to do just that, double- and triple-teaming McKendree at every opportunity and holding her to just 9 points on 13 shots. Meanwhile, junior point guard Jenny Lopez had a mini-breakout game for East Hall guiding the offense and knocking down three 3-pointers as part of her 15 points.
“Anna is such a great player that you really just try to slow her down,” East Hall girls coach Justin Wheeler said afterwards. “I thought we played excellent defense. We tried to make their other players beat us.”
The game was tied just once at 3-3 and East Hall trailed just once at 5-3 on a Kylie Stasierowski basket midway through the first quarter. But 3-pointers by Lopez, Carly Winters, Maggie Griffin, and Winters again on consecutive possessions gave the Lady Vikings a 15-5 lead they would never relinquish.
West Hall cut it to 15-8 on a Kylie Passmore 3-pointer but that’s as close as the Lady Spartans would get as East Hall responded with a 15-4 run in the second quarter for a 30-12 lead.
The Lady Spartans then were dealt another blow when McKendree picked up her third foul with just 18 seconds left in the half. McKendree finished the first half with just 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting and one assist as the Lady Vikings double- and triple-teamed her the entire half. McKendree’s only field goal came on a steal and layup early in the second quarter.
East Hall’s biggest lead came late in the second quarter, 30-12, after a 10-0 run. The Lady Vikings led 34-18 at halftime.
McKendree did her best to get West Hall back in the game swiping 9 steals for the game, with most of those coming in the second half as the Lady Spartans cut it to 36-26 midway through the third quarter. A pair of McKendree steals helped spark a 9-0 West Hall run to get within 47-40 in the fourth quarter and then a three-point play by McKendree got the Lady Spartans within 51-45 with 2:31 left.
But the Lady Vikings went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:52, including a 4-for-4 by Lopez, and forced three straight West Hall turnovers to seal the win.
“Jenny had a heck of a game,” Wheeler said. “She gave (West Hall) another option to guard. But I just thought it was a really good team effort overall.”
Winters finished with 15 points and Tessa Rider added 14 points for East Hall.
Cadie Shirley, Kinsey Wilson, and Aashyah White all had 9 points as well for West Hall.
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY GIRLS 61,
JOHNSON 30
Lakeview Academy opened the game with a 21-1 run and then cruised to the victory in the consolation round.
Sadie Thrailkill poured in 22 points and Maddy Towles an Tori Taylor added 9 points apiece for the Lady Lions (6-5) who also took a 28-4 lead into halftime.
Johnson (0-10) tried to get back in the game in the third quarter behind the shooting of Chelsea Reece, who poured 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the period. Reece finished with a game-high 23 points and six 3-pointers.
Lakeview led 52-21 after the third quarter.
The Lady Lions will take on Chestatee in the fifth-place game at noon on Saturday while Johnson will play Gainesville for seventh place at 9 a.m. Saturday.
CHESTATEE GIRLS 44,
GAINESVILLE 43
Lindsey Caudell poured in 20 points and Maggie McNair came off the bench to add 9 points as the Lady War Eagles fought back from a third quarter deficit to earn a win in the consolation bracket.
A half-court heave at the buzzer went in and out for the Lady Elephants.
Gainesville (3-5) led 10-8 after the first quarter and 20-18 at halftime in a back-and-forth affair. Caudell, who had just four first half points in the opening 16 minutes, caught fire after the intermission.
Behind 9 points in the third quarter from Caudell, Chestatee (5-9) pulled within 31-30 heading into the fourth and Caudell and the Lady War Eagles overtook the Lady Red Elephants in the final minutes of the game.
McNair hit a pair of timely 3-pointers in the second half and Caudell scored seven points in the final period.
Both teams had a chance to either increase the lead or rally at the free throw line. Chestatee was just 8-of-14 from the line while Gainesville hit just 10-of-16 for the game.
Tija Blackwell scored 8 of her team-high 10 points in the second half for Gainesville. Tia Shelton added 9 points and Lauren Teasley 8 points for the Lady Red Elephants.
Callyssa Tyner scored 8 points for Chestatee.
Chestatee will take on Lakeview Academy at noon on Saturday in the fifth-place game. Gainesville will battle Johnson at 9 a.m. Saturday in the seventh-place contest.
2017 LANIERLAND SCHEDULE
Finals and consolation round - Saturday at Flowery Branch
9 a.m. - Gainesville girls vs. Johnson (7th place game)
10:30 a.m. - Chestatee boys vs. Johnson (7th place game)
Noon - Chestatee girls vs. Lakeview Academy (5th place game)
1:30 p.m. - West Hall boys vs. North Hall (5th place game)
3 p.m. - Girls third place game - West Hall vs. North Hall
4:30 p.m. - Boys third place game - Lakeview Academy vs. Flowery Branch
6 p.m. - Girls championship - East Hall vs. Flowery Branch -- Radio: 550 AM/102.9 FM
7:30 p.m. - Boys championship - East Hall vs. Gainesville -- Radio: 550 AM/102.9 FM
