DAHLONEGA — Rest certainly did the North Hall girls a world of good. Just ask Lumpkin County.
The Lady Trojans, who ran out of gas in the Lanerland finals last week after three grueling games in as many days, looked fresh and sharp in taking a 59-48 win over the Lady Indians Friday night in a key Region 7-3A showdown at the Lumpkin County gym.
The North Hall boys made it a sweep with a 49-35 victory over the Indians in the nightcap.
The North Hall girls (12-4, 4-1 Region 7-3A) never trailed and used their quickness on both ends to produce a huge 14-0 first-half run to take control. Seven different players scored, they forced 8 Lumpkin turnovers and buried 9 of 16 3-pointers in the opening 16 minutes while building a 36-19 halftime lead.
Lumpkin County (13-4, 2-4) got as close as 50-44 midway through the fourth quarter after a 17-5 burst but could get no closer.
Grace Hollifield, who poured in 19 points to lead North Hall, was the early catalyst for North Hall knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Maci Gillespie and Lauren Swanson also drained 3-pointers in the opening period for a 19-11 lead.
“I thought we definitely looked fresh after some time off,” North Hall coach Kristi House said. “I thought we shot the ball extremely well and our defense did a good job of containing them early on.”
Lumpkin County leading scorer Isabel Davenport kept the Lady Indians in the game early with three treys of her own, including one to pull Lumpkin within 13-11. But she was held to just one free throw over the next 11 minutes into the third quarter.
North Hall built its big lead while Davenport was hindered by an aggressive zone defense and took just one shot in the second quarter.
“North Hall played exceptional on offense and did a nice job of limiting Isabel and the offense in the second quarter,” Lumpkin County coach David Dowse said. “We made a run but it wasn’t enough.”
The Lady Trojans took a 47-32 lead into the fourth quarter but Lumpkin used a 12-3 spurt, powered by 8 points from Davenport, to get within 50-44 with 3:58 left. But Hollifield sparked a 7-0 North Hall run with a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
It was a huge win for North Hall, which kept pace with Greater Atlanta Christian (8-8, 4-1) for first place atop the region.
“Every game in this region is important so to come away with a road win is big,” House said.
Davenport paced Lumpkin County with 24 points, 15 coming in the second half. Mackenzie Pulley and Makenzie Caldwell each had 10 points for the Lady Indians.
Maci Gillespie had 9 points for the Lady Trojans. Macy Clark and Ansleigh Ferguson each had 8 points. Ferguson also pulled down 9 rebounds for North Hall.
NORTH HALL BOYS 49,
LUMPKIN COUNTY 35
The Trojans (6-11, 2-3 Region 7-3A) used a 10-1 run in the second quarter to erase an early deficit en route to the Region 7-3A win.
Lumpkin County (5-12, 1-5) led 9-4 early in the second quarter on a Matt Seabolt basket but a Clark Howell basket, his only points of the game, capped the big run for a 14-10 Trojans advantage.
The Indians reclaimed the lead briefly at 16-14 on another Seabolt bucket but Nate Nixon’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave North Hall a 22-17 halftime lead. The Trojans used a 12-2 run to open the third quarter and Lumpkin County never got closer than nine, 40-31, the rest of the way.
J.T. Fair paced 10 different North Hall scorers with 9 points, and he added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Luke Volle had 8 points, all in the second half, and Drew Faulkner 7 points for the Trojans.
Jacob Cumbie paced Lumpkin County with 9 points. Seabolt finished with 8 points, 7 blocks, and 6 rebounds for the Indians.
