FLOWERY BRANCH — Fe Honors poured in 27 points to lead Flowery Branch to an 85-72 win over Loganville on Tuesday in Region 8-5A action at the Flowery Branch gym.
It was the second straight region win for the Falcons (13-3, 3-2 Region 8-5A) who moved into a tie for third with the victory.
The Falcons had to battle back from an early 16-13 deficit and exploded for 30 second quarter points. Jeremiah Ware led the charge in the outburst with 10 of his 16 points coming in the second.
Branch led 43-33 at halftime when the dust settled and stretched it 60-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
Honors scored 18 points in the second half as they held off a comeback attempt from the Red Devils (5-11, 1-4 Region 8-5A). Jaydon Gudz scored 12 points and Josh Oliver 10 for Flowery Branch.
Sherman Johnson paced Loganville with 19 points, 11 of those in the fourth quarter. Muhammad Souare had 15 points and Ahmed Souare 10 points for the Red Devils.
GAINESVILLE 89,
APALACHEE 45
The Red Elephants pushed their win streak to 6 with a blowout win at home in Region 8-6A action.
The win also kept Gainesville (8-5, 2-0 Region 8-6A) tied for first with Lanier (11-4, 2-0 Region 8-6A) atop the standings.
Gainesville started strong, opening up a 23-11 lead after the first quarter and exploded for a 26-7 second quarter run for a 49-18 halftime lead. Big Red didn’t let up in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats (5-11, 1-2 Region 8-6A) 30-13 in the period.
Cade Simmons paced 12 Gainesville scorers with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, and he hit the 1,000-point mark for his career. Ellis Pitts had 14 points, Octavion Demory 9, and Dre Raven 8 for the Red Elephants.
LUMPKIN COUNTY 61,
DAWSON COUNTY 47
The Indians held their rivals to just 13 first half points and then used a huge fourth quarter to pull away for their first Region 7-3A win of the season at home on Tuesday.
Lumpkin County (4-14, 1-4 Region 7-3A) led just 9-6 after the opening period but extended the lead to 25-13 by halftime. The Tigers (7-10, 1-3 Region 7-3A) used a 21-12 third quarter to get within 37-34 but the Indians exploded for 24 fourth quarter points to pull away.
Stephen Sherill threw down a career-high 22 points to pace the Indians, who have won two of their last three games after a 2-13 start. Cal Faulkner added 21 and Hunter Cooper had 10. All three scored 8 points in the fourth quarter.
Dawson County, which has dropped four straight, was led by Trey Harvey, who had 19 points, 17 in the second half. Caden Reed added 12 for the Tigers.
WHITE COUNTY 53,
PICKENS 52
The Warriors won a wild Region 7-3A game at home to stay unbeaten atop the standings.
White County (10-7, 4-0 Region 7-3A) trailed 12-2 in the early going as the Dragons’ Caleb Lanford scored 12 of their 14 first quarter points. But the Warriors rallied with a 27-point second quarter, paced by 14 points from Jadon Yeh, to take a 39-19 halftime lead. The Dragons (7-9, 2-2 Region 7-3A) answered back in the third pulling within 48-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Pickens, and Lanford in particular, continued its onslaught in the final period outscoring the Warriors 21-5. Lanford hit four 3-pointers in the period. But the Dragons could never grab the lead as a 4-for-11 night at the free throw line loomed large.
Yeh finished with 21 points, all in the first half, and Braxton Anderson, Noah Futch, Tripp Nix, and Dawson Oliver all had 6 points for White County.
The Warriors next will travel to Dawson County for another huge region matchup on Friday.
COMMERCE 66,
RABUN COUNTY 63
Jansen Morris drained a 3-pointer with 1 second left to lift the Tigers to a thrilling Region 8-A Division 1 win on Tuesday at the Commerce gym.
The game-winner was part of 16 points for Morris.
Commerce (7-10, 1-0 Region 8-A D1) had lost three of its last four overall before Tuesday’s win.
The Tigers were led by Cayden Lord with 24 points. Jackson Morris had 18 for Commerce.
EAST HALL 66,
JOHNSON 37
The Vikings got their first Region 8-4A Subregion A win of the season on Tuesday and have won two straight for the first time this season as well.
Levi Holtzclaw paced East Hall (3-14, 1-4 Region 8-4A Sub A) with 20 points. Eleven other players scored for the Vikings.
East Hall will try for their second region win of the season on Friday playing host to North Hall.
CHEROKEE BLUFF 71,
CHESTATEE 66
The Bears took over sole possession of first place in Region 8-4A Subregion A with a big come-from-behind win at home on Tuesday.
Chestatee (11-6, 4-1 Region 8-4A Sub A) jumped out to a huge 22-9 lead after the first quarter behind Jarvis Weaver and Colton Wilbanks, who combined for 13 points in the period.
But Bluff (12-5, 5-0 Region 8-4A Sub A) battled back to tie the game at 36 by halftime on the strength of three 3-pointers from Logan Holmes as part of a 27-point second quarter.
In the second half, the Bears grabbed a 56-52 lead in the third quarter and then held on down the stretch.
Holmes finished with 16 points and 3 assists and Boston Kersh had 16 points and 3 rebounds to lead Bluff. Carlos Marlow added 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists and Tanaka Mukono had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals for the Bears.
Wilbanks tossed in 23 points to lead Chestatee while Weaver finished with 21 points. Hugh Pruitt chipped in 9 points for the War Eagles.
NORTH FORSYTH 57,
SHILOH 52
Cole Kirouac posted another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Raiders (8-7, 2-1 Region 8-6A) who have won two straight in the region to move into a tie for third place.
Shiloh fell to 6-10 overall and 2-1 in region play.
Kal Delgadillo added 19 points for North Forsyth.
The Raiders next will play host to Gainesville on Friday and then travel to Habersham Central on Saturday in a pair of key region contests.
