FLOWERY BRANCH — “Just too much of everything,” was how East Hall boys coach Joe Dix summed up his Vikings’ 96-73 loss to powerhouse Gainesville Saturday night in the finals of the 58th annual Lanierland Tournament.
The defending champion Red Elephants, who captured back-to-back Lanierland titles for the first time since 1991-92, had six players score in double figures and used a 26-10 fourth quarter run to eventually pull away from the upset-minded Vikings. It was the third straight finals loss for the Vikings.
“I thought we did a great job of staying with them for as long as we did,” Dix said. “But the margin of error is so small against a team as deep as Gainesville. I’ve coached some teams like that so I know. They are just so deep they just wear you down.”
(NOTE: The Flowery Branch girls won their third consecutive title with a 64-44 victory over East Hall. Click here for a story on the Lady Falcons' title-winning game.)
In an electric, packed-house atmosphere at the Flowery Branch gym to start the game, East Hall used an 11-1 run to grab an early 11-5 lead that saw a pair of monster Gainesville dunks, seven combined turnovers, three offensive fouls, and eight total fouls in the first three minutes alone.
Gainesville responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead and took what would be the last of five first quarter lead changes on a Jarrel Rosser stickback for an 18-16 lead. The Red Elephants never trailed again but also could never quite put the pesky Vikings away until the fourth quarter.
Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said his group got exactly what they expected.
“East Hall played their tails off. They gave us everything we knew they would,” Wood said. “I’m just proud of our guys for withstanding their run and finding a way to get a win. It was an intense game with a great atmosphere.”
Gainesville led 33-25 after a Xavier Bledson basket midway through the second quarter but East Hall rallied to within 35-28 by halftime. Gainesville opened up a 42-33 lead early in the third quarter on a KJ Buffen stickback but a Luke Holtzclaw 3-pointer pulled the Vikings back within 44-39. East Hall got closer at 54-50 on a Luke Cooper trey with just under two minutes left in the third quarter but two consecutive baskets by Buffen ignited what would become an 11-2 run to close out the period for a 65-52 lead.
East Hall’s last-ditch attempt came when Mon Prather buried a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter but the Red Elephants exploded for the decisive run over a 5:11 stretch for a 91-65 lead.
Bledson would end up pacing the Red Elephants with 19 points. Buffen finished with 17, Rafael Robles had 15, including a pair of big 3-pointers in the big run, and Jarel Rosser had 12 for Gainesville. Kajuan Hale chipped in with 11 points and Bailey Minor, who was in foul trouble most of the game, contributed with 10 points for the Red Elephants.
Jayvion Rucker led East Hall with 14 points and added 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Sophomore T.J. Campbell came off the bench to pour in 13 points for the Vikings. Holtzclaw and Cooper had 9 and 8 points, respectively, as Gainesville took away the Vikings’ top scorers.
FLOWERY BRANCH BOYS 58,
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 49
In the third-place game, Flowery Branch used a 20-6 second half run to erase a Lakeview Academy late en route to the victory. The game was back-and-forth for most of the first three uarters with neither team leading by more than five points.
The Lions led 37-34 late in the third quarter when Justin Quick ignited a 9-0 Falcons run to grab the lead for good. Flowery Branch led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Quick finished with a game-high 23 points to lead Flowery Branch. Myles Janess added 14 for the Falcons.
Jack Blackburn led Lakeview with 11 points.
In the boys fifth-place game, West Hall held off North Hall 56-53 behind 21 points from Noah Edmondson and 16 from DJ Buffington. In the seventh-place game, Johnson beat Chestatee 72-54 getting 19 points from Will Richter.
2017 LANIERLAND
Finals and consolation round resuts
Gainesville girls 81, Johnson 38 (7th place game)
Johnson boys 72, Chestatee 54 (7th place game)
Chestatee girls 56, Lakeview Academy 38 (5th place game)
West Hall boys 56, North Hall 53 (5th place game)
North Hall girls, West Hall 56 (3rd place game)
Flowery Branch boys 58, Lakeview Academy 49 (3rd place game)
Flowery Branch girls 64, East Hall 44 (Championship game)
Gainesville boys 96, East Hall 73 (Championship game)
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
CW Davis MVP: Jarred Rosser -- Gainesville
Curt Lance Sportsmanship Award: Blake Coxworth -- Flowery Branch
Noah Holman -- North Hall
Noah Edmondson -- West Hall
Jack Blackburn -- Lakeview Academy
Justin Quick -- Flowery Branch
Chandler Jones -- Johnson
Cooper Wilson -- Chestatee
Luke Cooper -- East Hall
Xavier Bledson -- Gainesville
