Boys basketball: Taller Wolves wear down North Hall, take sole lead in 7-AAA

GAINESVILLE -- Even in defeat North Hall garnered plenty of respect Tuesday night against Class AAA No. 1 Buford.

The Trojans pushed the much-taller Wolves down to the wire before eventually falling 52-45 at the North Hall gym in the first battle for first place in Region 7-AAA.

"(North Hall) can really shoot the ball," Buford coach Allen Whitehart said. "They challenged us defensively and hit shots from all over the place, even the volleyball lines. It was a good test for us. They are a very good team."

The loss for the Trojans (14-2, 6-1 Region 7-AAA) snapped their 11-game win streak. It was the seventh straight win for the Wolves (11-5, 8-0).

Buford used its height advantage to great effect. The Wolves outrebounded North Hall 26-13 and gave up just six offensive rebounds.

"They are tall. They look like an SEC team out there," North Hall coach Benjie Wood said. "But our guys fought their tails off. To beat a team like that you have to make plays and we didn't make enough of them."

Six-foot-eight senior A.J. Davis was a nightmare matchup for North Hall. The lanky forward poured in 23 points, pulled down six rebounds, had two blocks, two steals, hit shots from inside and out, and and was 4-of-5 from the free throw line for the game.

"We put him out front to take away their press and he can do so many things for us," Whitehart said. "I thought he played a smart game."

The Buford defense, meanwhile, clamped down on the Trojans' top scorers, Ethan Smith and Adam Kelly. Smith finished with nine points and Kelly had just two. Griffin Olsen had 20 points to lead North Hall.

"We knew (Ebo Smith) can hit shots from anywhere so we tried to keep a taller defender on him and I thought we did an excellent job of that," Whitehart said.

Buford, as expected, came out running taking a 6-2 lead in the opening minutes. But North Hall went right at the Buford defense driving the lane often and went on an 11-4 run to grab a 13-10 lead late in the first quarter.

The Trojans would push their lead to 25-21 early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Ethan Smith. But the Wolves would hold North Hall scoreless over the final 5:50 of the first half and got five consecutive points from Kyle Doyle to close out the first half with a 7-0 run and a 28-25 halftime lead.

Buford started strong in the third quarter running out to a 32-27 lead. But Olsen scored five consecutive points to tie the game midway through the period. But the Buford defense answered holding the Trojans to just two points over the next six minutes while extending its lead to 43-34 midway through the fourth quarter.

North Hall's Avery Cagle, who finished with 11 points, ended the drought with a long 3-pointer but the Wolves again pushed their lead to nine, 48-39, with 2:07 left.

North Hall made one last run getting to within 48-45 on consecutive 3-pointers by Smith and Brock Wingo with 1:16 left. But the Trojans could get no closer.