GAINESVILLE — Actions typically speak louder than words. The Gainesville boys emphatically proved that Friday night with a 72-43 shellacking of Lanier in Region 8-AAAAAA play at the Gainesville gym.
The victory pushed Gainesville’s win streak to 12, which is the second-longest in Class AAAAAA behind Cambridge, which is riding a 19-game streak after Friday's action. It also gave the Red Elephants (15-6, 7-0 Region 8-AAAAAA) a two-game lead over the Longhorns (15-7, 5-2) and a sweep of the season series.
Two weeks ago the Red Elephants survived a tough, physical 57-46 battle against the Longhorns in a game that saw their offense sputter most of the night. Both teams also chirped at each other most of the game resulting in two technical fouls and several near skirmishes.
In the rematch, where the Longhorns could have climbed into a first place tie with a victory, there was little to be said after Gainesville used an 18-0 first quarter run to take control. There was no talking by either team and the Red Elephants displayed the athletic depth that fans have been waiting to see emerge on a more consistent basis.
There were high-flying dunks, fastbreak baskets, steals, and blocked shots as nine players scored. Gainesville led 20-9 after the first quarter, 39-22 by halftime, and extended it 55-26 in a 15-second, two-steal, six-point blitz by Xavier Bledson to end the third quarter. His explosion was more than the Longhorns scored (4) in the entire period.
Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said focus has been the key to their current surge.
“We’re just trying to focus on us and on executing,” he said. “We did a great job of executing tonight. We’ve been in this spot before and our experience should be showing."
The game was close for the first four minutes as the teams traded the lead four times. Lanier took its final lead at 4-3 on a Sion James basket but a Jarred Rosser dunk recaptured the lead for good for the Red Elephants. A Jalen Surles 3-pointer for the Longhorns following a Jarrel Rosser dunk off a feed from Brent Kelly pulled them within 8-7.
The Gainesville defense then ignited the big run forcing four straight turnovers, all turned into fastbreak baskets, and a Griffin Neville 3-pointer helped cap the explosion. A Ryan Johnson basket for Lanier ended a five-minute scoring drought but they only got as close as 28-14 the rest of the way.
Lanier was hounded into 26 turnovers for the game which resulted in 22 Gainesville points.
The depth of Gainesville also wore down the Longhorns top scorer, Adrian Martin, who had just 6 points, which also led Lanier. He had 18 in the first matchup.
“We feel good about our depth,” Wood said. “We feel it is a strength for us and our biggest problem is trying to find enough minutes for everyone. It’s a good problem to have but you also don’t want to disrupt the chemistry. We like where we are right now.”
KJ Buffen led five Gainesville players in double figures with 13 points. Neville and Jarred Rosser each finished with 12 points. KaJuan Hale added 11 points and Bledson finished with 10 for the Red Elephants.
Jehloni James had 5 points for Lanier.
LANIER GIRLS 57,
GAINESVILLE 40
The Lady Longhorns (18-4, 6-1 Region 8-AAAAAA) kept pace for no worse than second place in the region standings with the road win.
It was the sixth straight loss for Gainesville (6-13, 1-6) which led just once in the game.
Lanier opened the game with a 4-0 burst and extended it to 7-2 on a three-point play by Jamyah Montissol. But Gainesville responded with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a Tia Shelton 3-pointer to tie the game at 7 and then a Shelton fastbreak basket moments later for its only lead at 9-7. But the Lady Longhorns closed out the first quarter with a 5-0 spurt for a 12-9 lead and never trailed again.
Both teams really struggled on the offensive end combining for 20 turnovers in the opening period. The miscues continued for the Lady Red Elephants to open the second quarter as Lanier converted four more turnovers into baskets to run out to an 22-11 lead. The Lady Longhorns took a 29-17 lead into the intermission.
Lanier opened up a 40-26 lead late in the third quarter before the Lady Red Elephants used a 9-2 run behind seven points from Tija Blackwell to pull within 42-35 midway through the fourth quarter. Turnovers, however, played another huge role as Gainesville committed turnovers on four consecutive possessions in just a 50 second span and Lanier converted all four into baskets to blow the game open.
Lanier closed out the game with two more steals to get to the final score.
Montissol had 17 points to lead Lanier. Kalen Surles added 11 points and Bailey Bassette 10 for the Lady Longhorns.
Blackwell paced Gainesville with 17 points. Tia Shelton added 10 points for the Lady Red Elephants.
