Monday March 18th, 2024 11:57PM

(VIDEO) Basketball: North Hall, Dawson, East Hall boys each advance in 7-AAA

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

RABBITTOWN — North Hall pulled off the first upset while Dawson County and East Hall rolled to easy victories Tuesday in the first round of the Region 7-AAA Tournament at the East Hall gym.

With the wins North Hall, Dawson County, and East Hall all advanced to the Class AAA state playoffs and the trio will join Greater Atlanta Christian, which earned the automatic bid and the No. 1 seed after winning the regular season title.

North Hall opened the tournament with an upset 50-42 win over Union County. Dawson County, meanwhile, shot 77 percent in the third quarter to blow open a close game en route to a 71-46 win over Lumpkin County. Host East Hall closed out the opening day with a 78-52 win over Fannin County.

The tournament will resume on Wednesday at East Hall as the girls take the court. Games begin at 4:30 p.m. 

No. 4 seed Dawson County will play No. 5 Union County; No. 3 North Hall faces No. 6 Fannin County; and host and No. 2 seed East Hall takes on Lumpkin County in the nightcap.


NORTH HALL BOYS 50
UNION COUNTY 42

The Trojans (10-15) gave up just one field goal and outscored the Panthers 11-3 over the final 3:47 to pull off the upset over the Panthers (16-9) in the opening game of the tournament.

It was just the kind of game that North Hall coach Tyler Sanders had talked to his team about during tournament preparation.

“We had a lot of games this year we were close just like this one but couldn’t find ways to finish,” Sanders said. “We met on Sunday and just talked about everyone being 0-0 right now. The guys followed the game plan perfectly. Just a great win for us.”

The plan was to keep the taller Panthers out of the paint. Except for a wild flourish midway through the fourth quarter when Union County used three consecutive stick-back baskets to erase an eight-point deficit to tie the game at 39, the Trojans did just that.

Both teams played methodical half-court offense with Union County leading just 8-7 after the first quarter and 11-8 after a Crawford Colwell 3-pointer. But North Hall closed out the first half with a 10-2 run to grab a 17-13 halftime.

The Panthers came out strong to tart the second half using a 15-7 spurt for a 28-24 lead, their biggest of the game. But again the Trojans answered going on a 16-2 run into the fourth quarter for a 38-30 lead with 5:41 left.

After the Panthers rallied to tie the game, they would miss their final nine shots over the final 2:37 as North Hall pulled away.

Now North Hall will get prepared to take on No. 1 seed and Class AAA third-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals.

“They’re a great team and ranked for a reason,” Sanders said. “We’ll enjoy this for today and then start getting ready for GAC.”

Daniel Jackson lead North Hall with 17 points. Noah Holman added 11 points, Taylor 8 points, and Luke Gunter had 6 points, all coming in the second half, including two big stick-back baskets.

Senior Patrick Baggett had 15 points in his final game for Union County. Sawyer Drake also had 15 points for the Panthers.


DAWSON COUNTY BOYS 71
LUMPKIN COUNTY 46

The Indians gave Dawson County all they could handle for a quarter and a half. But the Tigers used a blistering 29-10 third quarter run to take control en route to the win.

Lumpkin County (3-21) led the entire first quarter taking a 13-8 lead after the period on a Jake Granger 3-pointer. The Indians led 15-14 midway through the second quarter on a Matt Seabolt stick-back basket.

But the Tigers (17-8) took the lead for good on a Cullen Reed 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the half and never trailed again. They went into the intermission with a 31-24 lead.

Any thoughts of a Lumpkin County comeback was dashed as the Tigers hit their first seven shots in the third quarter and went 10-for-13 overall in the period (77 percent) to blow the game open. They led 60-34 after the 29-point explosion.

“We prepared for a lot of defenses because you never know what (Lumpkin County coach) Jeff (Steele) is going to throw at you,” Dawson County coach Chad Pittman said. “We started slow but I thought we did a great job in the third quarter. We hit a few early to get them out of their zone and just kind of got things going after that.”

Jeremiah Crumley Dawson County with 18 points. Cullen Reed added 15 points, Campbell Reed had 14, and Ryan Gallenkamp 10 for the Tigers.

Lumpkin County was led by senior Austin Black, who had 11 points in his final game. Granger, Seabolt, and Peyton Polk each had 10 points for the Indians.

Dawson County next will take on East Hall in the semifinals on Friday on its home floor. However, the two teams split during the regular season with each team collecting a win on the road.

“You would think being would be better but not necessarily so,” Pittman said. “You have to be able to handle (East Hall’s) press. We didn’t do that the other night. But we’re playing a little better now so we’ll see what happens.”


EAST HALL BOYS 78,
FANNIN COUNTY 52

The Vikings never trailed and stormed out to a 26-8 lead in the first quarter as they made sure there would be no upset on their home court.

Darryl Gray converted a pair stick-back baskets in the opening minute and back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Qua Butler, Luke Cooper, and Luke Holtzclaw capped a 15-2 blitz in just over 90 seconds as they turned a slim 8-4 advantage into a lead the Rebels would not get closer than 15 the rest of the way.

The led 30-16 after the first quarter and took a 54-31 lead into halftime.

East Hall coach Joe Dix liked what he saw early.

“I thought it was a good first half for us,” he said. “It’s always great to get back into the playoffs. We try never to take anything for granted. We saw what happened in the first game with a good Union County team.”

The Vikings led by as many as 32 late in the third quarter and both teams emptied their benches for most of the fourth quarter.

Cooper led 15 East Hall players in scoring with 12 points. Jayvion Rucker added 9 points, T.J. Campbell 8 points, and Butler and Gray each had 7 points for the Vikings.

Senior Payton Holt scored 16 points in his final game to lead the Rebels. Senior Jack Gobble had 9 points in his final game.

Dix said they are expecting a different Dawson County team than the one they routed 73-49 just a week ago in Dawsonville.

“Dawson has a great team that can really shoot the ball. They scored 94 against us [in a Tigers’ win] in the first meeting so we know what they can do,” Dix said.

© Copyright 2024 AccessWDUN.com
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.