MT. AIRY — Gainesville held Habersham Central to nine points or fewer in three quarters as the Red Elephants took a 47-30 win on the road Friday night in Region 8-6A action.
Gainesville (8-11, 5-1 Region 8-6A) opened with a 12-2 first quarter and took an 18-10 lead into the intermission. Both teams found a little more offense in the third quarter but the Red Elephants managed to take a 31-21 lead into the final period.
A key was Gainesville’s outside shooting. The Red Elephants drained six 3-pointers to just one for the Raiders (7-14, 1-5 Region 8-6A).
Walt Dixon led Gainesville with 13 points. Robert Reisman had 11 points and Donsha Gaither added 10 for the Red Elephants.
Malachi Dooley paced Habersham with 13 points.
WHITE COUNTY 55,
WEST HALL 45
Sawyer Passmore led West Hall with 12 points. Canaan Koger added 10 points for the Spartans.
CLARKE CENTRAL 56,
JOHNSON 47
The Gladiators hit several key free throws in the final minutes to preserve a close win in Region 8-5A action.
It was a marked improvement for the Knights, who lost 70-28 in the two teams’ first meeting of the season.
The game tied with four minutes to go but Johnson could not get the lead.
Wade Pearce had 17 points to lead Johnson. Buddah Johnson added 8 for the Knights.
Johnson travels to Chestatee on Saturday.
RABUN COUNTY 62,
BANKS COUNTY 58
The Wildcats rolled into Homer and rallied in the fourth quarter to hand Banks County its second consecutive loss in Region 8-2A play.
The Leopards (16-4, 7-2 Region 8-2A) dropped into second place for the first time this season with the loss. It was a vast turnaround for Rabun County (6-13, 4-5 Region 8-2A) which lost to Banks County by 30 (65-35) in the two teams’ first meeting.
Banks County led after every break taking a 17-13 lead after the first quarter and a 33-31 at halftime. The Leopards maintained a slim 48-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Rabun County outscored the Leopards 16-10 in the final period to steal the road win.
Carl Cleveland had 28 points and 10 rebounds but no one else had more than nine points for Banks County. Pierce Martin chipped in with 9 points and Sawyer Pace had 8 points and 4 rebounds for the Leopards.
MARIST 50,
CHESTATEE 40
The War Eagles were held to 10 points or less in three quarters in a Region 7-4A loss on the road.
The Marist defense was tough to crack as Chestatee sharp-shooter Brenton Nicholson was held to just 8 points and only one 3-pointer for the game. Chestatee had more free throws (5) than field goals (4) in the second half.
Marist led 17-10 after the first quarter but Chestatee trimmed the lead to 30-24 by halftime and 38-33 heading into the fourth quarter. But Marist was able to pull away late for the win.
Kyle Bowmar paced Chestatee with 12 points. Jonah Bull had 11 for the War Eagles.
