63rd Lanierland girls: North Hall, GHS set for rivalry showdown in finals

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Eric Herrick allowed himself a small smile, though he knew the first goal for his North Hall girls squad still had one more piece to be completed.

The Lady Trojans fought back from a big early deficit to beat a hot Cherokee Bluff team, 65-56, to advance to their third Lanierland finals in four seasons on Thursday at the Flowery Branch gym.

North Hall (9-3) will take on arch-rival Gainesville in Friday’s 6 p.m. final at the Cottrell Center at Chestatee High School.

Herrick, a former North Hall grad, took over the Lady Trojans program this season, looking to keep the defending Lanierland champions rolling after a 17-win campaign last year.

“I’m very excited, especially after the way we started getting down 12-2 early,” he said afterward. “The girls really fought back and hit some key shots in the second half. Very pleased overall.”

North Hall took the initial lead on a Genesis Satterfield basket on the opening possession. The Lady Bears answered in a big way, exploding for a 16-3 run behind 8 points from freshman sensation Claire Carlson, whose two free throws gave them a 16-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Bluff would lead by as many as 20-8 on an Emma Reynolds basket.

But the North Hall bombers got going. Kristina Peach converted a three-point play and Rylee Thompson’s 3-pointer with 3 seconds left pulled the Lady Trojans within 21-19 by the end of the period. North Hall continued its barrage as Thompson capped a 10-2 run for a 33-25 lead late in the half.

Bluff pulled within 34-33 by halftime with an 8-1 spurt over the final three minutes.

The Lady Trojans opened the second half with a 7-0 run and then maintained that lead the rest of the way. Reynolds got the Lady Bears to 42-40 late in the third quarter and a pair of Mia Williams free throws got them to 59-55 with 2:08 left.

But Bluff missed three shots with a chance to get closer, and North Hall hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final 41 seconds to preserve the win.

Athena Vachtsevanos, Peach and Martha Vachtsevanos all poured in 13 points to lead a balanced North Hall offense. Thompson finished with 11 points, and Satterfield had 8 for the Lady Trojans.

“Athena, Martha, and Genesis all really produced for us tonight,” Herrick said. “We’re going to need the kind of effort we got tonight to beat Gainesville (tomorrow).”

Carlson paced Bluff (10-2) with a game-high 22 points. She also had 4 assists and 4 steals before fouling out. Reynolds added 13 points and Williams 8 for the Lady Bears.

GAINESVILLE 67,
CHESTATEE 62 OT

Gainesville coach Vanessa White thought her group was tested in the first round of the 63rd annual Lanierland Tournament on Wednesday.

That was nothing compared to Thursday’s semifinal showdown with Class 4A 9th-ranked Chestatee.

The Lady Red Elephants built a huge first-half lead, lost it, rallied to go to overtime, then held Chestatee scoreless in the extra frame to pull out a tough win at the Flowery Branch gym.

Keke Jones hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 1:31 and made a key steal as well in overtime to help the Lady Red Elephants survive a ferocious Chestatee rally in the second half.

“We asked her to take control at the end, and she did that,” first-year Gainesville coach Vanessa White said. “Keke helped calm down her teammates and lift them up when we were facing some adversity.”

There was plenty for the Lady Red Elephants. They built an impressive 38-16 lead in the first half, only to watch the Lady War Eagles (8-4) storm back in the second half and eventually take the lead. Two players each from both teams fouled out as 60 fouls were called in the physical game

The Gainesville press was the story in the first half. While only forcing a few turnovers, the Lady Red Elephants forced the Chestatee offense into quick shot after quick shot and used that for more than half-a-dozen transition baskets.

Gainesville was able to use that to turn an early 4-3 deficit into a 20-11 lead by the end of the first quarter on a Caloni Young 3-pointer at the buzzer, her third of the quarter. The Lady Red Elephants continued their hot shooting as Kedria Young and Julia Payne each hit treys to push the lead to 29-14.

Chestatee’s Payton Cable snapped the run with a basket, but Jones converted a fastbreak basket, Kedria Young scored five straight points, and Mattie White added a basket for a 9-0 run to make it a 38-16 advantage with just over three minutes left in the half. The Lady War Eagles, however, began to claw back.

They held Gainesville scoreless over the final 3:27 as both Youngs' picked up their second fouls. A Caroline Bull 3-pointer ignited what would be an 8-0 run for the Lady War Eagles to close out the half trailing 38-24.

As hot as the Lady Red Elephants were in the first half, they were as cold in the second half. And Chestatee took advantage.

While Gainesville opened the second half shooting just 2-of-13, Chestatee used an 18-6 run, sparked by 9 points from Riley Black in the third quarter, to pull within 44-42 on a pair of Caroline Bull free throws. They capped the comeback when Bull scored on a driving layup with 8 seconds left in the third quarter to tie the game at 48.

However, Black fouled out with 1:53 left, and Chestatee clung to a 60-59 lead. In the fourth quarter, the two teams traded the lead eight times before Sierra Yarbrough sent it to overtime with a basket with 4 seconds left. 
The Lady War Eagles missed all five shots and were 0-for-5 from the free throw line in the overtime.

“That big lead in the first half really helped us, but I would like to see us respond better when we face adversity,” White said. “We showed too much negative body language. But we found a way to hang on at the end.”

Black finished with 28 points, including eclipsing the 1,000-point mark in the fourth quarter. Bull added 13 points, and Yarbrough had 11 points for Chestatee. The Lady War Eagles were just 15-of-32 from the free-throw line.

Kedria Young paced Gainesville with 25 points, 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime, before she fouled out as well. Jones finished with 14 points, 6 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Caloni Young also had 14 points before fouling out as well.

Chestatee will take on the Cherokee Bluff at 3 p.m. on Friday in the third-place game.