OAKWOOD — Gainesville coach Chuck Graham said to ignore the Red Elephants’ shocking winless streak to open the season.
After the first two days of the 60th annual Lanierland Tournament, his group is showing why.
The Red Elephants dismantled a solid Cherokee Bluff squad Saturday in the semifinals with an impressive 68-48 win at the Johnson gym.
“We’re not there yet but I think we’re closer to being the team I think we can be after the last couple of days,” Graham said. “I tell people around the state all the time you can’t duplicate the intensity of Lanierland and I think our guys kind of feed off that.”
Gainesville (2-10) never trailed after Walt Dixon and Robert Reisman opened the game with baskets for a quick 4-0 lead. The Bears (8-6) rallied behind Bosko Norman and Palmer Weaver to trim the lead to 8-7 but they would not get closer the rest of the way.
A Lake Shelton 3-pointer gave Gainesville a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 7-1 run to close out the half gave the Red Elephants a 33-24 lead. They pushed the lead to 49-39 at the end of three quarters and a 10-3 run to open the fourth put the game away.
“We focused on crashing the boards more in the second half and that was a big key,” Graham said.
Donsha Gaither led Gainesville with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half. Reisman finished with 16 and Buffington 10 for the Red Elephants. Eli Pitts added 9 points.
Weaver led Cherokee Bluff with 14 points. Griffin Neville added 11 for the Bears.
Gainesville will take on West Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at Cherokee Bluff High looking for its fourth straight title.
Cherokee Bluff will take on Johnson at 4:30 p.m. on Monday at Cherokee Bluff High in the third-place game.
WEST HALL 62,
JOHNSON 26
It was a Lanierland semifinal few anticipated when arch-rivals Johnson and West Hall met Saturday at the Johnson gym.
West Hall was making its first finals appearance since winning its only title in 2008. It was the first for the Knights since winning the tournament in 2014.
The Spartans’ shocking blowout victory was even less expected.
West Hall used a 13-4 run to close out the first half and then continued the onslaught with a 23-7 explosion to open the second half to turn what was expected to be a competitive showdown into anything but.
Even West Hall coach Bobby Pless wore the look of surprise afterward.
“This tournament has always been about playing well at the right time. We’ve gotten a little healthier the last couple of days and that certainly has made a difference,” Pless said. “On Thursday we only had six bodies that could practice so I can’t say we were anticipating this just because of where we were one day before the tournament started.”
The game was tight, if not sloppy, in the early going. Johnson led just 4-1 five minutes in on a Rolando Razo basket. The Spartans’ tied it on a three-point play by Cannan Koger and took what turned out to be the final lead of the game on a Quincey Holcomb basket with 1:50 left in the opening period.
Johnson (3-9) trimmed the gap to 12-11 in the second quarter on a Caleb Jackson bucket but West Hall (5-7) closed out the half with their first big run for a 25-15 lead. After the monster run to open the second half, they led 58-22.
“The seniors came into this one telling us they wanted it and they really came out and played well,” Pless said. “I think this will give us some confidence for the rest of the season no matter what happens on Monday. But it was an electric locker room afterward and that’s always fun to see.”
Holcomb paced West Hall with 17 points. Sawyer Passmore added 13 points, Koger had 10 points and Andrew Malin 8 points for the Spartans.
Johnson was led by Razo with 6 points. No one else had more than five for the Knights.
West Hall will take on the Gainesville-Cherokee Bluff winner at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at Cherokee Bluff High.
Johnson will take on the loser of the Gainesville-Cherokee Bluff matchup at 4:30 p.m. on Monday at Cherokee Bluff High.
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CHESTATEE 58,
NORTH HALL 48
The War Eagles used a pair of big second-quarter runs to take control and then held off a late North Hall charge for the win in the consolation bracket.
Chestatee (7-7) led 13-11 after the first quarter but North Hall took a 15-14 lead early in the second frame. The War Eagles responded with a 10-0 run and then added an 8-0 run after a Trojans’ basket for an eventual 32-19 lead at halftime.
North Hall (9-5) added a quick basket to open the third quarter but Chestatee would take a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter. The Trojans pulled within seven points late in the game but could get no closer.
Jonah Bull led Chestatee with 19 points. Brenton Nicholson added 14 points and Ethan Popham had 12 for the War Eagles.
Clark Howell paced North Hall with 13 points, 11 coming in the second-half rally. Ty Smith added 8 points for the Trojans.
The difference was at the free-throw line. Chestatee was 14-of-20 while North Hall was just 3-of-10 for the game.
Chestatee will take on East Hall in the fifth-place game on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Cherokee Bluff.
North Hall will take on Lakeview Academy in the seventh-place game on Monday at 10:30 a.m. Cherokee Bluff.
EAST HALL 63,
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 50
The Vikings put a wild Friday night behind them with an inspiring win in the consolation bracket.
East Hall (5-7) outscored the Lions in three of the four quarters. The Vikings stormed out of gates with an 18-11 first-quarter run and extended the lead to 35-25 by halftime.
Lakeview (5-9) climbed to within 46-37 heading into the fourth quarter but East Hall pulled away in the final minutes hitting 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch.
Imre Earls poured in 19 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead East Hall. Christian Torres added 16 points, all coming in the second half for the Vikings.
Declan Weidner paced Lakeview Academy with 15 points, but just 3 after halftime. Conley Millwood had 12 points, 11 in the second half, and Sam Stewart added 10 for the Lions.
East Hall will take on Chestatee in the fifth-place game on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Cherokee Bluff.
Lakeview Academy will take on North Hall in the seventh-place game on Monday at 10:30 a.m. Cherokee Bluff.
