Elephants survive Gilmer upset bid

FLOWERY BRANCH - For about 23 minutes, Gainesville's Region 7-AAA quarterfinal game Wednesday night against Gilmer County seemed like an episode of 'The Twilight Zone.'

Gilmer was not only hanging around with the 12th-ranked Red Elephants, it had the lead for a good part of the game.

But with Gilmer leading 40-39 late in the third quarter, a Jon Mark Owings block of a Derrick West layup attempt sparked a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to lead the Red Elephants (21-6) to a 67-52 win.

"We didn't shoot the ball well and (Gilmer) was able to slow it down and keep us frustrated," Gainesville coach Jerry Davis said. "But the first game is always the toughest. We're just to move on. That's the name of the game at this point in the season."

Gainesville missed shots, turned the ball over and were being whipped inside by the smaller Bobcats repeatedly in the first half, which the Elephants led just 25-23.

Gilmer (3-23) ran its motion offense to near-perfection through the first three quarters but Owings block seemed to unsettle the upset-minded Bobcats, who then tried to get into a running game after Gainesville went to its three-quarters-court press.

The Bobcats, who shot over 50 percent through the first three quarters by taking high-percentage shots, missed seven straight during the Elephants run and never recovered.

But Gilmer coach Renny Bryner, who is in his first year, said he was pleased.

"We knew they'd make a run. We were just hoping we could contain it," said Bryner, who called two timeouts during the Elephants' run. "We played hard and for the most part smart. We made a couple of bad decisions when we were still in the game and that cost us.

"But I have no complaints. No regrets. We were treating this like a championship game and if we won we would just keep playing until it was over. I t was a long shot."

J.B. Little led Gainesville with 18 points, and hit a huge 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to give the Elephants a 42-40 lead they would never relinquish. Brent Benson scored 15, half of his season average, and was uncharacteristically 1-of-8 from 3-point range.

Trey Smith had 10 points, 6 assists and two big steals for Gainesville. most coming in the fourth quarter.

Gilmer was led by West with 18 points. Jordan Hunter scored 16, but was held to just 3 in the second half.