Jeff Hart

Gainesville girls basketball coach Manson Hill may not rank his teams, but after his current Lady Elephants’ squad held off arch-rival East Hall 46-39 Saturday night to win the Region 7-AAA title, he certainly has a special place for this team.

A funny thing happened during an expected shootout between West Hall and North Hall Friday night in the boys semifinals of the Region 7-AAA Tournament. Both defenses decided to steal center stage. West Hall held North Hall to just 20 points through three quarters and then pulled away in the fourth quarter in taking a 47-37 win at the Chestatee gym.

He might not have wanted to admit it then, but East Hall coach Joey Rider had a vision two weeks ago that his Lady Vikings would be playing for the Region 7-AAA title. Now, he doesn’t mind letting everyone know after East Hall beat Gilmer 59-46 Friday night in the semifinals of the Region 7-AAA Tournament at the Chestatee gym.

Neither East Hall coach Joe Dix nor North Hall coach Benjie Wood mentioned anything about state tournament streaks or records before the two teams’ met Thursday night in the second round of the Region 7-AAA tournament at the North Hall gym. For both coaches, the focus was on one game for a shot at the 2009 Class AAA state playoffs.

Winning the Lanierland Tournament for the first time was nice. So was winning a Thanksgiving tournament at East Jackson to open the season. But for West Hall boys basketball coach Warren Sellers and the Spartans, there was really only one goal all season: making the state tournament.

Despite two lopsided wins over Athens Academy during the regular season, the Lakeview Academy girls basketball had to rally from six points down in the fourth quarter before eventually taking a 38-34 win at the Lakeview gym to move into the Class A state tournament for the sixth consecutive season.

Devaris Finch poured in 25 points to lead Johnson to an 80-74 upset win over Creekview in the first round of the Region 7-AAA boys basketball tournament at the Lumpkin County gym.

Freshman Cara Chilton waited until the biggest game of the season to have perhaps her finest moment Monday night in the opening round of the Region 7-AAA tournament. Chilton scored seven of her nine points and grabbed three key rebounds in the second overtime to help propel Flowery Branch to a 67-62 double overtime win over Lumpkin County at the Chestatee gym.

Jayla Moon said she was not ready for her high school career to come to an end Monday night in the opening round of the Region 7-AAA girls basketball tournament. And the West Hall senior proved it putting her teammates on her back and carrying the Lady Spartans to a 47-39 upset of Creekview at the Chestatee gym.

The Class AAA fifth-ranked Gilmer girls basketball team clinched the Region 7A-AAA subregion with a thrilling 51-46 win over Chestatee Tuesday night at the Chestatee gym.