Two weeks ago West Hall blew a 22-point second half lead to Gainesville in a loss to the Red Elephants in the Lanierland Tournament. Tuesday night in a crucial early-season Region 8B-AAA contest, the Spartans again led by 20 late in the third quarter.
This time, however, they answered a late Gainesville run with one of their own before taking a 77-57 win at the West Hall gym to exact a measure of revenge.
"We talked at halftime about no lead being to safe against (Gainesville)," West Hall coach Warren Sellers said. "I thought we did a much better job tonight of handling their pressure when they started to make a run. It was a much better finish."
West Hall (11-3, 2-0 Region 8B-AAA) led 57-37 after a Shunquez Stephens basket but Gainesville's Shaquan Cantrell capped a 16-6 run in a four minute span to pull within 65-55 with just five minutes left in the game.
William Stroup, who finished with a double-double for the Spartans (13 points, 12 rebounds), took control of the boards and helped spark a 12-2 run to end the game.
"Rebounding was a key and we have worked with William to become more aggressive," Sellers said. "He has a lot of reach and can be intimidating inside when he plays well. He did a good job tonight."
Gainesville (8-4, 1-1) came in depleted with coach Todd Cottrell serving the last of a two-game suspension for being ejected during Lanierland and inside presence A.J. Johnson playing in a national high school All-star football game.
For the second game in a row the defense for the offensive-minded Spartans shined. They held Gainesville to just 13 points in the second quarter while using a big run to take control and then to just two points over the final five minutes while putting the game away.
"We've been working hard at improving our defense and we're definitely making progress," Sellers said.
Stephens finished with 25 points and seven rebounds to lead West Hall, which travels to arch-rival Johnson Friday for another key Region 8B-AAA matchup. Jarquise Young had 12 points and nine assists and Dre Pou eight points for the Spartans.
Gainesville was led by Ke'Odric Sadler with 13 points and eight rebounds. Deshaun Watson added 10 points for the Elephants.
The game was back-and-forth in the first nine minutes with nine lead changes and four ties. But a 3-pointer by West Hall's Jamaad Stephens sparked a 15-0 run in just a 2:21 span to give the Spartans a 32-18 lead. They would never trail again.l
Gainesville would answer with a 6-0 run to climb within 32-24 late in the second quarter. But the Spartans used a 8-0 run to push its lead back to 40-26 and a Shunquez Stephens basket at the buzzer gave them a 42-29 halftime lead.
The Red Elephants will look to bounce back against Oconee County at home on Friday. West Hall will look to keep rolling at Johnson on Friday,
West Hall's Dre Pou, left, goes up for a lay-up against Gainesville's Deshaun Watson and Javez Warren.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/1/235028