Basketball: White County sweeps North Hall to open 8-AAAA

GAINESVILLE -- The White County boys have been trying to figure out how to finish games.<br /> <br /> After Saturday night's 65-60 win over rival North Hall on the road in both teams' Region 8-AAAA opener, the Warriors may have found the missing ingredient.<br /> <br /> And that could spell trouble for the rest of the region.<br /> <br /> The Warriors (8-5, 1-0 Region 8-AAAA) had two one-point losses and another by three points in the first six weeks of the season. But this time they built a 55-44 lead with 5:40 left in the game and forced two critical turnovers and got a huge block from Bradley Hurst in the waning moments to hold on.<br /> <br /> "A much different game from a couple of weeks ago [a 67-61 North Hall win]," White County coach Sam Borg said. "I thought we played much better defense, especially in the middle part of the game, and Maurice (Sutton) really controlled the inside when he was in there. More importantly, it was a big region win."<br /> <br /> It turned into a defensive slugfest and free throw shooting contest over the final five minutes with just three combined field goals made.<br /> <br /> The Trojans (8-6, 0-1) chipped away, led by Carson Heinen, who scored nine of the next 11 North Hall points to pull them within 60-57 with 50 seconds left.<br /> <br /> But White County hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 39 seconds to preserve the victory.<br /> <br /> "We didn't panic and Hurst had some big plays and did a great job on Carson to keep him in check," Borg said. "Carson is going to get his points but we limited him somewhat and I thought that was a big key to the game."<br /> <br /> The two teams traded the lead five times in the first quarter with the Trojans taking a 13-10 lead after the first eight minutes. White County would take control late in the second quarter with a 10-2 run over the final 2:19 to grab a 32-27 halftime advantage.<br /> <br /> The Warriors got hot from the outside in the third quarter hitting four 3-pointers, two by Hurst, to build a 49-38 lead late in the period. Crawford Abernathy hit a stick-back basket at the buzzer for a 53-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.<br /> <br /> Whit Mauney led White County with 23 points. Hurst and Desmon Mataro each had nine points for the Warriors.<br /> <br /> Heinen finished with 18 points before fouling out to lead North Hall. Sam Jackson added 14 points for the Trojans.<br /> <br /> <b>White County girls 45<br /> North Hall 34</b><br /> <br /> White County held North Hall to just four fourth quarter points and just six points over the final 10:03 of the game in taking a win in both teams' Region 8-AAAA opener.<br /> <br /> It was an especially big victory for the Lady Warriors (9-4, 1-0 Region 8-AAAA) who had lost four of six games since a 6-0 start.<br /> <br /> "This was huge for us," White County coach Tyler Whitlock said. "We needed to rebuild our confidence after a tough couple of weeks."<br /> <br /> Eliza Harris was key for White County down the stretch hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final four minutes to help preserve the win. Jordan Taylor paced the Lady Warriors with 14 points, including four straight points and an assist to help White County pull away in the third quarter.<br /> <br /> A new offensive philosophy paid large dividends for the Lady Warriors. North Hall had beaten them 67-34 two weeks ago.<br /> <br /> "We tried to be a little more patient and look for easy shots," Whitlock said. "We rushed a lot of shots the last time we played them. I thought we did a good job most of the game this time. And our defense at the end was excellent." <br /> <br /> White County never trailed and the game was tied twice at 2 and 21. In between the Lady Warriors used a 9-0 run, powered by seven points from Jordan Taylor, to take an 11-2 lead.<br /> <br /> North Hall answered with a 7-2 run, capped by a Taylor Anne Kelley 3-pointer, to pull within 15-11 early in the second quarter. The Lady Warriors answered that with a 6-2 run for a 21-13 lead but North Hall used an 8-0 run, capped by a Katie Sayres 3-pointer to tie the game at 21.<br /> <br /> White County closed out the half holding North Hall scoreless over the final 3:12 to take a 25-21 lead into halftime.<br /> <br /> North Hall was hit-or-miss from 3-point range. The Lady Trojans missed their first four attempts while White County built its quick lead. But they hit 4-of-their-last-8 to shoot themselves back in the game before halftime.<br /> <br /> North Hall stayed close in the third quarter and early fourth quarter cutting the lead to one three times, the last time at 33-32 with 6:16 left in the game on a Sayres basket. But the Lady Trojans would not score again until the final two seconds.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, White County would hit 10-of-11 free throws over the final 4:09 to put the game away.<br /> <br /> Paige Thomas finished with 11 points for White County, which was 17-of-20 from the free throw line.<br /> <br /> Kelley had a game-high 15 points to lead North Hall (9-6, 0-1). Sayres finished with seven points. The Lady Trojans were just 6-of-7 on free throws.