GAINESVILLE -- East Hall girls basketball coach Joey Rider is hoping the third time's the charm for his Lady Vikings in seeking their first Lanierland Tournament title since 2006.
The Lady Vikings used a stifling defensive effort and some timely shooting to hold off Gainesville 44-27 Tuesday night to reach the finals of the tournament for the third time in his four years as coach.
"It's great to get back to the finals and hopefully we can have a better outcome than the other two times," Rider said.
The Lady Vikings advanced to the 2010 finals on the strength of their defense and by dominating the boards on both ends of the court.
East Hall dominated the first quarter running out to a 15-4 lead forcing 10 Gainesville turnovers and outrebounding the Lady Elephants 7-3 in the period. Morgan Jackson and Jasmine Jenkins combined for seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the quarter.
"I thought our rebounding was a huge factor early in the game," Rider said. "It allowed us to get a lead and then we tried to limit (Gainesville's) opportunities. Except for a few minutes in the second half we did a good job."
Neither team could get much going in the second quarter offensively. The Lady Vikings defense was almost impenetrable holding Gainesville to just one field goal through the first 7:51 while building a 20-6 lead. The Lady Elephants held East Hall to just two field goals in the quarter.
But East Hall could not extend the lead, however, missing three free throws in the quarter. Rebecca Webster pulled Gainesville to within 20-9 at halftime with a 3-pointer with nine seconds left breaking a 6:41 scoring drought.
East Hall scored the first six points of the third quarter but Gainesville answered with a 9-0 run to eventually trail 28-18 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Elephants then opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to pull within 28-25 with just over six minutes left on another Webster 3-pointer. But they could get no closer.
The Lady Vikings ended the game the way they started as the defense again took over. They held Gainesville to just one field goal over the final six minutes and closed out the game on a 12-0 run.
"We've been talking about finishing better and I thought we did a great job (tonight)," Rider said. "I don't really feel like we've played that well so far. But the last two or three games, especially defensively, we're starting to do some good things."
Jackson finished with a game-high 16 points, 10 in the second half, to go with six rebounds to lead East Hall. Jenkins finished with nine points, five assists, and four rebounds for the Lady Vikings.
Webster paced Gainesville with 12 points and six rebounds but she got little help offensively. Mikalyn DeFoor had six points on two 3-pointers for the Lady Elephants.
East Hall finished with a 25-19 rebounding edge and forced 20 Gainesville turnovers for the game. The Vikings had 16 turnovers for the game but just three in the final 10 minutes.
Thursday
April 25th, 2024
9:36PM
