RABBITTOWN — With the regular season winding down, both East Hall basketball teams took big steps in helping their playoff cause Saturday with tough Region 7-AAA wins over rival North Hall at the East Hall gym.
The Lady Vikings used a 9-5 run over the final four minutes to rally for a 62-58 win while the East Hall boys built a big first half lead and then held on for a 67-56 win in the nightcap.
With the victories both teams now sit in second place in the region standings and the first round of the upcoming region tournament will be held at the home of the second place team on both sides.
“Being able to play at home in the playoffs in humongous. This was a huge win for us,” Lady Vikings’ coach Justin Wheeler said.
East Hall boys coach Joe Dix said playing at home is always good but playing more consistent will determine whether they can capture a fourth consecutive region crown.
“We always like playing at home but eventually we’re going to have to win on someone else’s court. We need to learn how to finish games better if we want to do that,” Dix said.
Both girls teams came into the showdown tied for second place. East Hall (13-10, 6-4 Region 7-AAA) leaves with a one game lead over the Lady Trojans (11-11, 5-5) with two games remaining.
It was a back-and-forth affair the entire way. North Hall led 23-18 at the end of the first quarter but East Hall used a 15-5 run to take a 33-30 halftime lead. The Lady Vikings took a slim 48-47 advantage into the fourth quarter.
In the final period the two teams exchanged the lead four times before Carly Winters drained a long 3-pointer to give the Lady Vikings a 55-53 lead they would not relinquish. North Hall pulled within 59-58 on a Camilla Howell trey with 1:23 left but Winters hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute and the Lady Trojans missed three potential game-tying 3-point shots in the final 20 seconds.
“North Hall always plays us tough,” Wheeler said. “We talked about the importance of this game and where we stood in the standings. I was pleased with how we responded.”
With a sweep of the season series over North Hall, the Lady Vikings need just one win over Dawson County or Fannin County next week to secure the No. 2 seed and the home court for the first round of the region tournament.
“We’re going into next week looking to win both games to make sure,” Wheeler said. “This is a very balanced region so you need all the advantages you can get.”
Winters finished with a game-high 27 points, including six 3-pointers, to pace East Hall. Lindsey Summer added 9 for the Lady Vikings.
Ansleigh Ferguson led North Hall with 13 points. Natalie Nixon added 12 points, Maci Gillespie 9 points, and Lauren Swanson had 8 points for th Lady Trojans.
Outside shooting and free throws were key. The Lady Vikings hit 11 3-pointers to North Hall’s six and also were 13-of-20 from the foul line compared to just 4-of-7 for the Lady Trojans.
EAST HALL BOYS 67,
NORTH HALL 56
After North Hall jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first 80 seconds, East Hall answered with a 14-3 run and never trailed again.
The Trojans scratched back to 16-14 on a Taylor Hanson 3-pointer but the Vikings defense held North Hall to just eight points and only one field goal over the final 9 minutes of the first half while building a 40-22 halftime lead.
But as dominating as the first half was for East Hall (13-10, 8-2 Region 7-AAA) the second half was a grind. The Vikings built their biggest lead of the game at 43-24 on a Luke Holtzclaw 3-pointer moments into the third quarter. But North Hall (7-15, 2-8) answered with an 11-0 run to pull within 43-35.
East Hall pushed its lead back to 49-37 but the Trojans continued to chip away using a 10-4 spurt to climb within 53-47 on a Luke Gunter steal and layup with 4:58 left.
The Vikings answered back again with a 10-2 burst to put the game away.
Dix said they will need to break their recent pattern.
“We build big leads and them give them away,” he said. “I said there were going to be growing pains with a young team this year and we’re still having them. The young guys are still learning how to win. The effort is there; we just need to be more consistent.”
East Hall came in tied with Dawson County for second with the Tigers having to travel to region leader Greater Atlanta Christian on Saturday. But, the two teams will meet on Tuesday in Dawsonville with the Tigers already owning one win over the Vikings.
Luke Cooper led 11 East Hall scorers with 13 points. Holtzclaw added 11 and Jayvion Rucker had 8 for the Vikings.
Hanson finished with 13 points to lead North Hall. Cole Brooks had 9 points and Gunter and Daniel Jackson chipped in 8 points each for the Trojans.
North Hall had chances to catch East Hall but went just 19-of-40 from the foul line. East Hall was just slightly better at 13-for-22 on free throws.
