FLOWERY BRANCH — The Gainesville boys are hoping that history repeats itself.
The Red Elephants completed one deja vu moment Monday running past West Hall 75-52 at the Cherokee Bluff gym to capture their fourth consecutive Lanierland Tournament title. Now, they are hoping that will springboard them to another deep state playoff run.
“This kind of reminded me a little bit of last year’s team,” Gainesville coach Chuck Graham said afterward. “That team had a lot of new parts and started a little slow and then we came in and won Lanierland and that really got us going. I’m hoping this could be the catalyst we need this year.”
Gainesville (3-10) opened the 2019-20 season with a shocking 10-game losing streak. But injuries and other internal factors played a huge part. The display the Red Elephants put on during the three-day tournament certainly shows that whatever issues they had over the first month of the season is behind them.
“We’ve already had a lot of adversity with the losing streak and other things. But the guys kept practicing hard and I could see that we were close. I like where we are right now,” Graham said.
However, West Hall, making its first Lanierland finals appearance since 2008, was ready at the tip taking the initial lead on a Canaan Koger basket 35 seconds in and a 4-3 lead on a Sawyer Passmore basket 90 seconds later. The Gainesville defense got unleashed and three turnovers and 11 points later they led 14-4 on a Eli Pitts jumper.
The Spartans pulled within 14-6 on another Koger shot but Gainesville answered that with a 21-5 explosion into the second quarter. They would not get closer than 16 points until late in the fourth quarter.
The Gainesville defense forced 31 turnovers and at times the offense looked unstoppable. But other times, like when West Hall went on a 19-7 run to close the gap to 68-52, they were stagnant.
Graham said finding out what kind of team they are is the goal heading into their Region 8-6A schedule this week.
“I thought we were real good on offense, at times, and then sometimes we weren’t. But I think our defense is turning the corner,” he said.
Senior Dee Buffington, who was named the tournament MVP after scoring 13 points on Monday, said he is beginning to see signs of an identity.
“Honestly, I think we’re better on the defensive side when we’re playing well,” Buffington said. “We’re doing a lot of the little things better right now. We can be good on offense but we still have some work to do.
“But the rest of the season is the important part, so we need to keep working hard. I never doubted this team even after we started 0-10.”
Gainesville did close out the game on a 7-0 run fueled by three more West Hall turnovers.
Donsha Gaither led Gainesville with 16 points and Walt Dixon chipped in with 13. Pitts finished with 9 points for the Red Elephants.
Quincey Holcomb shook off a rough first half to pour in 15 points to pace West Hall. Koger finished with 13 points and Passmore and Chase Reed each had 8 points for the Spartans.
CHEROKEE BLUFF 65,
JOHNSON 38
The Bears used a 30-4 run to close out the first half to roll to a big win in the third-place game.
Cherokee Bluff opened the game with a quick 5-0 spurt but the Knights answered with a run to get within 10-8 midway through the first quarter. The Bears answered with their big run to pull away for a 40-12 halftime lead.
It did not get any better for Johnson in the third quarter as the Bears opened up a 56-24 lead at one point.
Jacob Carlson paced Cherokee Bluff with 14 points. Bosko Norman added 13 for the Bears, who emptied the bench in the fourth quarter.
Jesse Harbin and Rolando Razzo each scored 8 points to lead Johnson.
CHESTATEE 69,
EAST HALL 44
Chestatee led from start-to-finish in knocking off the Vikings for their best finish in more than a decade.
The War Eagles used a 23-9 second-quarter run to blow open a close game after the first quarter. They continued the barrage with a 20-11 third quarter for a shocking 54-30 lead.
Ethan Popham led a balanced Chestatee attack with 18 points. Brenton Nicholson added 17 points and Jonah Bull 15 for the War Eagles.
Imre Earles and Malachi Ware had 8 points apiece to lead East Hall.
NORTH HALL 73,
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 44
The Trojans jumped on the Lions quickly and cruised to a win in the seventh-place game between a pair of teams battling injuries and sickness.
North Hall led 28-17 at halftime and extended its lead in the second half.
Clark Howell poured in a game-high 18 points to lead North Hall. Samir Huete added 10 points and Matthew Gunter had 9 for the Trojans.
Sam Stewart paced Lakeview with 16 points. Holden Cooper had 11 points for the Lions.
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