BETHLEHEM — The Gainesville boys rallied from 15 points down in the second half for a remarkable 89-84 win over Dacula in the Region 8-AAAAAA finals Saturday night at the Apalachee gym.
However, in the girls finals Winder-Barrow used a 20-10 fourth quarter to erase a Lady Red Elephants leads to capture the girls title with a 55-47 victory.
The win for the Gainesville boys captured the region championship for the Red Elephants (26-1) and completed an undefeated run through the 8-AAAAAA regular season and playoffs.
Gainesville trailed 43-31 at halftime, and the Falcons (19-8) pushed the lead to 15 several times in the third quarter. But the Red Elephants -- behind some timely offense from Kajuan Hale and Xavier Bledson and some tenacious defense by Brent Kelly and Russ Tipton -- turned things around in the fourth quarter.
Gainesville trimmed the lead to 61-51 heading into the final period and Kelly and Tipton hounded Dacula into three consecutive turnovers that sparked a huge run. Dacula finished with 17 turnovers for the game but seven came in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Hale poured in 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, all coming from the free throw line. Bledson recorded a triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, with a majority of the dishes coming in the final eight minutes.
Gainesville had six players score in double figures. Jarred Rosser had 14 points, brother Jarrell Rosser 13, and Bailey Minor 10 points. Michael White finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Red Elephants.
Dacula stormed out of the gates, grabbing a 25-14 lead after the first quarter. The Falcons continued the assualt, taking a 43-31 lead into halftime.
Mekhail Bethea led the Falcons with 24 points. Arusha Hunter added 20, Gary Bishop 14, Justin Goodson 13, and Jalen Perry had 11 points for Dacula.
Gainesville will play host to the No. 4 seed from Region 6-AAAAAA in the first round of the state tournament next weekend.
WINDER-BARROW GIRLS 55,
GAINESVILLE 47
Class AAAAAA No. 3 Winder-Barrow girls battled back from a pair of deficits to knock off Gainesville 55-47 to take the Region 8-AAAAAA girls championship.
Gainesville led 9-6 after the first quarter but the Lady Bulldoggs responded with a bog second quarter to take a 26-25 lead into halftime. The Lady Red Elephants answered that with a 12-9 third quarter to take a 37-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
But Gainesville could not hold on. The Lady Bulldoggs used a 20-10 run in the final period pull away for the victory.
Winder-Barrow was led sophomore guard Cella Watson with 16 points.
Gainesville got a huge game from Sydney Payne, who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals. Taylor Hawks had 24 points for the Lady Red Elephants.
Gainesville will play host to the No. 3 seed from Region 6-AAAAAA in the first round of the state playoffs next week.
