RABBITTOWN, Ga. — In the biggest of games, sometimes you need the unlikeliest of heroes to step up.
East Hall got just that from Cooper Barton Tuesday night. The freshman guard scored 8 fourth-quarter points, including draining a pair of huge 3-pointers, to help give the Vikings just enough cushion to hold off Jefferson 57-56 in a huge Region 8-3A matchup for both teams.
East Hall coach Joe Dix said Barton plays larger than his diminutive frame. And they needed a spark after the Dragons had stormed from five-down in the third quarter to tie the game.
“We weren't making any shots. We needed something,” Dix said. “(Cooper’s) not afraid. He has no fear. And we're not afraid to throw him out there because he can shoot it and stretch the defense. And he hit two big threes there, and he’s shot it like that all year.”
But the Vikings also would not have been able to survive a physical Jefferson team without two of their biggest stars -- Chasen Jones and Bray Langston -- taking over down the stretch.
Jones scored six straight points to give East Hall a 55-49 lead. Langston blocked a shot in the final 30 seconds and forced a Jefferson foul for two free throws, then got a huge rebound late.
“Those guys stepped up there at the end, but I still would like to see more from them,” Dix said. “They were huge at the end when we needed them.”
Langston’s two free throws with 17 seconds left were just enough as Jefferson’s Josiah Morris hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.
But it was a defensive slugfest throughout and a see-saw battle.
East Hall jumped out to a 4-0 lead only to have the Dragons answered with a 5-0 run on a steal and fastbreak layup from Christian Hester for a 5-4 lead. But the Vikings turned up the defense over the final 5 minutes.
Koen Bryant blocked 2 shots, Bray Langston 1 shot, and they forced four Jefferson turnovers as they closed the period with an 11-2 run to take a 15-7 lead.
But the Dragons opened the second with an 8-0 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Ceven Nicely, to tie the game again at 15. The defenses and some poor shooting highlighted the final 4 minutes of the half.
East Hall’s Khalil Goss reclaimed the lead for the Vikings on an inside putback, and Jefferson tied it again on a driving basket by Hester with 1:49 left in the half. But the Dragons would not score again as the Vikings got a running floater from Jamarcus Harrison and a 3-pointer by Jordan Richerson at the buzzer over a Jefferson defender for a 22-17 halftime lead.
Jefferson opened the third quarter with a 10-4 run to grab a 27-26 lead, but the Vikings responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted and capped by back-to-back dunks from Harrison and Langston for what looked like a huge 34-27 advantage. But the Dragons answered again with a 7-0 run to close out the period.
The win for the Class 3A third-ranked Vikings (14-3, 3-1 Region 8-3A) kept them no worse than one game behind top-ranked Cherokee Bluff in the region standings. The loss for 12th-ranked Jefferson (11-5, 3-1 Region 8-3A) snapped their five-game win streak.
Richerson and Jones paced a balanced East Hall offense with 10 points each. Harrison and Langston had 9 points, and Barton 8 for the Vikings.
Hester poured in a game-high 22 points to lead Jefferson. Clay Owen had 9 points, and Nicely and Colton Grant finished with 6 points apiece for the Dragons.
JEFFERSON GIRLS 52,
EAST HALL 41
The Class 3A second-ranked Lady Dragons never trailed in rolling to their 11th straight win on Tuesday at Valhalla.
The game was tied just once, at 2-2, on a basket by the Lady Vikings’ Maliyah Butler, but Jefferson never trailed after that. The Lady Dragons (14-3, 4-0 Region 8-3A) scored 7 points off East Hall turnovers in the opening frame to grab an 18-13 lead.
A 3-pointer by Skyler Brady off a turnover and another basket by Anni Aldridge off an East Hall miscue gave Jefferson a 9-4 lead. East Hall used a 5-0 run to cut it to 12-11 midway through the first quarter.
The Lady Dragons, however, closed the period on a 6-2 run as part of a larger 20-4 explosion for a 32-15 lead late in the second quarter.
Jefferson moved out to a 44-26 lead midway through the third behind Aldridge, who had 12 points in the second half. But East Hall (8-8, 1-3 Region 8-3A) used a 15-8 run into the fourth quarter, paced by a 3-pointer from Kayalan Curry and a pair of stickback baskets from Terriah Watkins, to pull within 52-41 with 4 minutes left.
But neither team was able to score the rest of the way. Jefferson blocked 4 East Hall shots but also missed several opportunities to extend the lead on the offensive end.
Aldridge led Jefferson with a game-high 16 points. Michel Robbins added 13 and Brady 8. However, Brady was held scoreless in the second half.
Curry paced East Hall with 14 points. Watkins finished with 11 and Butler 8 for the Lady Vikings.
