Lanierland boys: Johnson, Chestatee, GHS, Vikings advance to semifinals <b> (VIDEO) </b>

OAKWOOD -- Chestatee and Gainesville each needed late runs while East Hall and Johnson turned in dominating performances in blow out wins to advance to the semifinals Saturday in the opening round of the 55th annual Lanierland Tournament at the West Hall gym.<br /> <br /> East Hall never trailed in blitzing North Hall 80-44. Chestatee held off West Hall, 56-36; Gainesville never trailed but needed a fourth quarter run to put away Lakeview Academy, 77-63; and Johnson wrapped up the night with a solid 75-52 win over Flowery Branch.<br /> <br /> In the Gainesville win over Lakeview Academy, D'Marcus Simonds sparked a 13-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and would finish with 35 points and five assists to lead all scorers.<br /> <br /> Gainesville (11-0) looked ready to run Lakeview out of the gym with a 10-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. But the Lions scratched their way back with 3-point shooting.<br /> <br /> Lakeview (7-3) hit nine 3-pointers in the game and got within three points several times. Tae Turner's basket midway through the second quarter capped a 14-5 run to pull the Lions within 30-27. A Tre Gober shot late in the third quarter cut the lead to 47-44.<br /> <br /> That would be as close as the Lions could get. Gainesville used a 10-2 run to push the lead to 57-46 before Lakeview closed the gap to 58-53 heading into the fourth quarter.<br /> <br /> The Red Elephants were able to finally get some distance with its big run to start the final period.<br /> <br /> K.J. Buffen and Sam Carpenter each added 10 points for Gainesville. Jermaine Fleming and Tyler Scott had eight points apiece for the Red Elephants.<br /> <br /> Turner and Gober each had 15 points to lead Lakeview Academy. Drew Cottrell added nine points for the Lions.<br /> <br /> <b>Johnson 75<br /> Flowery Branch 52</b><br /> <br /> Despite the lopsided score, it was a tight game for most of the first quarter. The teams traded the lead five times in the first six minutes with two ties.<br /> <br /> But a stick-back basket by Rod English gave the Knights (11-0) a 10-9 lead with 2:11 left in the first quarter and they would not trail again. That basket sparked a 9-1 run to close out the period for a 17-10 Johnson lead.<br /> <br /> The Falcons (5-6) climbed to within 19-12 on a basket by Trey Bailey a minute into the second quarter but Johnson answered with a 17-5 run, fueled by 10 points from Ty Cockfield for a 36-17 lead. The Knights would eventually take a 42-22 lead into halftime.<br /> <br /> Johnson opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach. The knights would lead by as many as 27 points on five occasions in the second half.<br /> <br /> Knights' coach Jeff Steele said the pressure of defending a title for the first time was no big deal.<br /> <br /> "That was last year and this is this year," Steele said. "We treated it like any other Lanierland game. We always come in here looking to get a win."<br /> <br /> Cockfield and English, perhaps the best tandem in northeast Georgia, nearly outscored the Falcons by themselves. Cockfield finished with 33 points, including six 3-pointers, and English added 15 points. <br /> <br /> But it was the defense that impressed Steele.<br /> <br /> "(Flowery Branch) can shoot the ball and you have to defend them at all times. No. 21 (Taylor Bourdage) can score on anyone I thought we held him down as much as you're able too," Steele said. "That was the key to the game for me."<br /> Bourdage finished with 17 points, including five 3-pointers of his own, but no one else reached double figures for the Falcons. Hunter Konuszewski had eight points for Flowery Branch.<br /> <br /> <b>East Hall 80<br /> North Hall 44</b><br /> <br /> East Hall held North Hall to just two field goals and only 15 points in the second half in a surprising blow out win in the first round.<br /> <br /> Tylor Brown poured in a game-high 26 points to pace East Hall, which will take on arch-rival Gainesville Monday in the semifinals at Chestatee High.<br /> <br /> It was a streaky game early with the Vikings (8-1) jumping out to a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter behind Kyvon Davenport, who had four points, two assists, one block and one steal. But North Hall (6-5) used a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Carson Heinen to pull within 19-17 with 30 seconds left in the quarter.<br /> <br /> In the second quarter East Hall would begin to take control. Luke Cooper drained back-to-back 3-pointers for a 35-23 Vikings lead and then Davenport hit a shot at the buzzer for a 41-29 halftime lead.<br /> <br /> It was all Vikings in the second half. They used runs of 8-2 and 16-4, including seven straight points by Brown at one stretch, to take a 63-38 lead into the fourth quarter. East Hall led by as many as 39 late in the game.<br /> <br /> Davenport finished with just 13 points but had five blocks, five assists, three steals, and seven rebounds for East Hall. Luke Cooper and Tristan Cooper each had nine points for the Vikings.<br /> <br /> Heinen finished with 15 points to lead the Trojans. Sam Jackson added seven points for the Trojans.<br /> <br /> North Hall will take on Lakeview Academy on Monday at 10:30 a.m. in the consolation round.<br /> <br /> <b>Chestatee 56<br /> West Hall 36</b><br /> <br /> Chestatee used a tough defensive effort in the first half to grab the lead and then pulled away in the second half to beat the Spartans.<br /> <br /> The War Eagles forced three consecutive West Hall turnovers and got consecutive 3-pointers by Caleb Jameson to erase an early deficit and then blew the game open in the second quarter.<br /> <br /> Chestatee will play the winner of the Johnson-Flowery Branch game at 8:30 p.m. Monday at Chestatee.<br /> <br /> West Hall (2-7) led 6-3 but Jameson's two treys capped an 8-0 run for the War Eagles (8-4) for an 11-6 advantage. Chestatee would push its lead to 17-11 by the end of the first quarter.<br /> <br /> The War Eagles then used a 21-8 second quarter to blow the game open. They kept up the pressure in the second half leading by as many as 23 points in the third quarter.<br /> <br /> The Spartans climbed to within 48-35 on a 3-pointer by Seth Gaines and a steal and layup by Dylan Barron early in the fourth quarter to cap an 10-3 run but could get no closer.<br /> <br /> Chestatee's Hunter Creamer, who poured in 26 points against West Hall last week, had just four points Saturday. But Chestatee coach Chad Pittman said the win was a testament to how his group has played so far in the early part of the season.<br /> <br /> "We knew they would take Hunter out of the game as best they could but we had other guys step up," Pittman said."This is an unselfish group that just needed someone to believe in them and we do. They have responded well so far."<br /> <br /> Jameson finished with a game-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jordan Pulliam added 16 points for the War Eagles. Mikey Petraroi had 11 points for Chestatee.<br /> <br /> Bryson Jones, who had three 3-pointers in the first half to help West Hall stay close early, finished with 12 points to lead the Spartans. Barron and Gaines each had seven points for West Hall.

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