FLOWERY BRANCH - Gainesville senior Brent Benson, Hall County's leading scorer, hit five 3-pointers to lead the Class AAA No. 4-ranked Red Elephants to an 83-62 Region 7-AAA South win over Flowery Branch Tuesday night.
Benson finished with a game-high 23 points, 20 in the first half. Kenji Cobb added 12 and Byron Williams, Jamarco Warren and Chaz Smith each had 10 for the Red Elephants.
Gainesville opened the game with a 16-3 run and never looked back. The Elephants led 21-10 after the first quarter and held the Falcons (6-8, 0-2) to just six second quarter points while building a 40-17 halftime lead.
Flowery Branch outscored Gainesville 45-43 in the second half, including 28-20 in the fourth quarter to make the score more respectable.
Freshman Zac Swansey led the Falcons with 15 points and sophomore Shawn Johnson added 14.