RABBITTOWN - Somebody throw some water on Brent Benson. The Gainesville High senior is as hot as the inside of a Hawaiian volcano.
Benson poured in 34 points, his second straight game and seventh time in 10 games with 30 or more points, to lead the Elephants to an 82-29 rout of Chestatee in the Lanierland Tournament.
Top-seeded Gainesville (9-1) will play West Hall in the semifinals of the 44th annual tournament at 8:30 p.m. next Friday at the North Hall gym.
In the other semifinal, Class AAA No. 1-ranked East Hall, the No. 2 seed in Lanierland, will play No. 10 Johnson at 5:30 p.m.
The finals are slated for Saturday at North Hall.
Benson was 7-for-11 from 3-point range, just one night removed from hitting 10 against White County.
Gainesville was never threatened.
The Elephants are going for their second Lanierland title in three years and are the only team other than East Hall to win the tournament since 1994. The Vikings have won eight of the last nine titles.
EAST HALL 76, NORTH HALL 45
For the first four minutes, it looked like North Hall was poised for the upset. But the Vikings (7-1) used a 20-6 run over the next six minutes to blow the game open.
North Hall (3-4) cut the lead to 28-19 late in the second quarter but East Hall responded with a 27-6 run for a 55-25 lead midway through the third quarter.
Frank Davis, who scored from a variety of shots, finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Vikings. Keldrick Coleman added 10.
Ronny Hulsey led North Hall with 24 points, including one 3-pointer.
JOHNSON 83, FLOWERY BRANCH 47
The Knights won the game but may have lost a lot more when Marqise Wright went down in the first half with an ankle injury.
Wright, who had 11 first-half points did not return and his status is uncertain for next week's semifinal game against East Hall.
Tyler Sanders picked up the slack pouring in 22 points to lead Johnson (6-1). A.J. Young and Luis Romero each had 10 points.
The Knights ran out to a 28-13 lead after the first quarter and lead 45-26 at halftime.
Zac Swansey lead Flowery Branch (4-5) with 14 points. Shawn Johnson added 10 for the Falcons.
WEST HALL 66, LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 57
After Lakeview used an 8-3 run to start the third quarter to close within 35-33, the Spartans responded with a 10-0 run of their own to blow the game open.
West Hall (7-2) led just 18-14 after the first quarter and 32-25 at halftime. The Spartans opened up a 53-40 lead, their biggest of the game, at the end of the third quarter.
Lakeview (7-3) climbed back to within 55-51 late in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.
Lakeview's Dustin Wellborn led all scorers with 26 points. Will Crumley had 15 for the Lions.
Trey Smith led West Hall with 19 and Jacob Vital added 12.
Saturday
July 5th, 2025
8:50PM
