Elephants, Vikings ready for Round 2

GAINESVILLE - Round 2 of the Gainesville-East Hall boys basketball showdowns will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. Friday night at the East Hall gym.

And the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Gainesville (12-3, 1-0 in Region 7-AAA South) comes into the game with 60 percent of its starting lineup different since the two teams' tangled in the finals of the Lanierland Tournament last month.

Jon Mark Owings is listed as questionable with a heel injury and starters James Chester and Cory Wilmont were lost to grades over the holiday break.

But that didn't seem to matter to either Gainesville coach Jerry Davis or East Hall coach Seth Vining.

"It's Gainesville-East Hall. It doesn't matter whose starting or playing. It's always a tough game and both teams always look forward to it," said Vining, whose Vikings (11-2, 1-0) are ranked No. 1 in Class AAA. "Whether they have people out or not doesn't matter to me. We know they're a good team that can beat us."

Davis, whose Elephants are ranked fourth, said they just have to move on.

"You can't worry about who you don't have when you play East Hall. You have to focus on what you need to do to beat them. If we dwell on who's out, we'll be in big trouble before it starts," Davis said.

While the December meeting wasn't on par with some of their classic showdowns, it was a typical game in that one team opened a lead only to have the other come back before hanging on at the end. East Hall won 94-90.

It should be another high-scoring affair .

East Hall is the highest scoring team in Hall County and features amazing depth with seven players averaging 8 points a game or more. Frank Davis leads the Vikings in scoring at 15 points a game. Keldrick Coleman averages 11 and Brody Langston 10.

But Gainesville features the leading scorer in Hall County in Brent Benson, who is pouring in 30 a game. But depth is a concern with no one else on the roster averaging more than 9 points.

"We lost some depth, especially at point guard, because Cory was handling the ball about 80 percent of the time. But we have several guys we think can step in," Davis said.

In a 67-61 win Tuesday over West Hall, Gainesville got solid contributions from freshman Jamarco Warren and sophomore Tavious Pittman in place of Wilmont. Jeremy Little and Byron William splayed solid inside for Chester with 22 points and a dozen rebounds.

"They played well for what I can tell without those guys and the kids they brought in did the job. It's not the same team we played in December, but it's still Gainesville, which means they'll be ready and good," Vining said.