63rd Lanierland boys: North Hall rolls into 1st finals since 2012; Red Elephants into 7th straight

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — For the first time in a decade, North Hall will get a chance to play for a Lanierland Tournament trophy.

The Trojans routed West Hall 73-53 on Thursday in the semifinals, using a 39-5 run to open the game, and never looked back.

The last time North Hall (7-4) made it to the championship game (2012), they brought home the program’s seventh title trophy. They are sure to be a decided underdog when they tangle with Gainesville in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. finale at the Cottrell Center at Chestatee High School.

North Hall coach Miles Kendall, who guided the Trojans to a Region 7-3A title last season, is more than looking forward to try and add a Lanierland crown to his third season off Mount Vernon Road.

“As a player, I always wanted to win Lanierland and beat people that I knew, and this is a big deal for the program right now,” Kendall said. “I thought the guys came into this one focused and played well at the start. We have a huge task ahead of us (Friday), so we’ll just try and get ready for that one and see what happens. But we’re very happy to be in the finals, for sure.”

Luke Sanders drained a pair of 3-pointers to get things started, and West Hall’s Andrew Malin made it 6-2 with a bucket nearly four minutes in. Malin hit a free throw to make it 7-3 with 3:22 left in the first quarter, but North Hall exploded for a 22-0 run over an 8-minute span to end the Spartans' Cinderella run from the No. 9 seed position.

By the time West Hall’s Xavier Felix scored with 4:24 left in the half, Sam Gailey’s 3-pointer had given them a 29-3 lead. The Trojans had pushed the advantage to 39-5 on two more Sanders baskets before Malin ended that run.

The Spartans battled back to trail 39-11 by halftime and used a 24-15 run, capped by an Owen Jenkins trey, to get within 54-29 in the third quarter.

Both teams went to their subs, and the Spartans got as close as 20 twice, including the final score.

Sanders paced 11 North Hall scorers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Cole Hulsey added 13 points, and JT Chester had 11 points for the Trojans.

Jenkins finished with 20 points, 18 in the second half, to lead West Hall. Malin had 12 points and Felix 6 for the Spartans.

West Hall will play Cherokee Bluff at 4:30 at Chestatee in the third-place game.

GAINESVILLE 68,
CHEROKEE BLUFF 59

Charlie Reisman showed why he is still the go-to guy for Gainesville.

The senior guard scored the Red Elephants’ first 13 points of the second half to spark a win over the Bears in the semifinals on Thursday.

“We needed to be more aggressive, and he made some plays and created plays for some of the other guys as well,” Gainesville coach Chuck Graham said. “He’s a great player, and that’s what you want players like that to do.”

The win for the Red Elephants (5-5) moved them into the finals for a seventh consecutive season.

In the first half, Gainesville jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Reisman and Isaiah Rico. Bluff battled back to get within 17-16 at the end of the first quarter on a pair of free throws from Carlos Marlowe.

The Bears took a 26-25 lead on a 3-pointer from Jhace Justice, but the Red Elephants closed out the half with a 6-2 run, including a layup at the buzzer from Xavier Griffin, for a 31-28 advantage.

Reisman took over coming out of the half. Following Reisman’s explosion, Gainesville led 44-33 after his stick-back basket. They pushed the lead to 13 on two occasions before taking a 52-42 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bears (7-4) did not go away, pulling within 54-49 on two Logan Holmes free throws midway through the fourth. They got to 61-56 on a Holmes 3-pointer with 1:21 left, but that’s as close as they could get.

Gainesville hit 5-of-7 free throws over the final 1:17, including Dre Raven completing a three-point play to push the lead to eight. But Cade Simmons iced it, hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 20 seconds.

Simmons, who transferred in after last season, has given the Red Elephants some added depth at point guard, a key weakness during last season’s 5-win campaign. Thursday’s win matched that total after just 10 games.

“We feel confident with the ball in Cade’s hands because he’s going to make good decisions,” Graham said. “He is very smart out there and can distribute the ball and score the basketball as well. He also gives us that depth at that spot we didn’t have last year.”

Reisman finished with 21 points to pace Gainesville. Octavion Demory added 13 points, and Simmons chipped in with 12, 7 coming from the free throw line.

Marlowe led Bluff with 19 points, including going 13-of-17 from the line. Holmes finished with 11, 7 in the fourth quarter, and Boston Kersh had 9 for the Bears.

Cherokee Bluff will play the North Hall-West Hall loser in Friday’s third-place game at 4:30 p.m. at Chestatee.