GAINESVILLE — In the end, Redan held on.
No. 4 seed Redan grabbed the lead late in overtime on a Quintavious Roland bucket en route to a 72-69 overtime win to upset top-seeded North Hall (23-5, Region 7-3A No. 1 seed) in the first round of the Class 3A tournament.
The drama, however, didn't officially begin until the 4:30 minute mark in the fourth quarter.
That's when the Bulldogs (13-12, Region 5-3A No. 4 seed) began chipping away at the Trojans' 11-point lead, behind Alfolabi Caulker, who scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, to take a 62-57 lead with 30 seconds to go.
It seemed as if Redan was going to erase the double-digit Trojan lead in the final four minutes to knock off the top-seeded Trojans at Lynn Cottrell Court.
But, wait, there's more.
Matthew Ray hit a 3-pointer, and North Hall trailed 62-60 with 18 seconds to go. Redan's Christian Kinerly had an opportunity to push it back up with a 1-and-1 situation at the foul line and missed, leaving the door open for the Trojans to tie or take the lead.
Robert Terry took advantage when swooped in and grabbed an offensive rebound and gently laid it in to send the game into overtime, 62-62.
In overtime, the Trojans opened with a turnover, Redan turned it over, North Hall turned it over, then Kinerly hit one of two at the foul line to give the Bulldogs a 63-62 lead with 2:45 left in overtime.
North Hall, however, got a basket from Luke Sanders to take back the lead, 64-63, but Redan's Xavian Green swished one of his two foul shots on the next trip to tie the game at 64-64.
It wasn't until the 54.6-second mark that everything began going south for the Trojans. Roland's 3-pointer gave Redan back the lead 68-67 for good. The Bulldogs outscored North Hall 7-0 in the final 50 seconds to hold on for the win.
Terry led the Trojans with 16 points, Luke Sanders had 13, Matthew Ray with 11, and Edward Doig had 10.
RABUN COUNTY 67,
THERRELL 55
The Wildcats shot 56 percent from the floor en route to a first round win in the Class 2A tournament at home on Tuesday.
Connor McKay had a monster game for Rabun County (23-5) with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 blocks.
It was nip-and-tuck the entire first half with Rabun County leading just 18-16 after the first quarter and 33-32 at halftime. The third quarter was the difference.
Rabun County got a 16-11 run to pull away for a 48-43 advantage and held off several fourth-quarter charges by Therrell.
The Wildcats were efficient on offense committing just 7 turnovers for the game.
Grayson Carver had 16 points and Cooper Welch 14 points for Rabun County. Gus Hood had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, Bear Old had 7 points and 6 rebounds, and Clayton Dixon 6 points for the Wildcats.
