GAINESVILLE — Defense wins games, right? It did for Sequoyah.
The Chiefs' zone defensive pressure and timely shots pushed them past Gainesville, 63-53, in the first round of the Class 6A tournament at Gainesville High Gym on Friday.
It was reminiscent of the Region 8-6A title game against Lanier and almost a carbon copy of it. The shift to the zone was the perfect defense against Gainesville's run-and-gun attack and, just like the region title game, it all started to crumble late in the third quarter.
"They went to a zone," Gainesville coach Chuck Graham said. "We kind of lost our identity and thought we could shoot our way out of it instead of attacking it. That was the disappointing part of it. We got some good looks and normally we knock those shots down."
The first half was fast and furious with Gainesville (12-15, Region 8-6A No. 2 seed) jumping up 8-2 off a jarring Eli Pitts dunk with 5 minutes left in the opening quarter.
After the Pitts' dunk, the Chiefs (23-5, Region 6-6A No. 3 seed) answered with an 8-2 spurt to tie the game, 10-10, at the 3:38 mark. The run sparked a back-and-forth battle that yielded nine lead changes and four ties over the next quarter and 1/2.
Lake Shelton was part of three of those lead changes, hitting two 3-pointers in the first quarter to break the Chiefs' momentum, including one at the first-quarter buzzer. He also hit a 3 with 4:45 left in the half. Shelton finished the game with 12 points -- all from behind the 3-point arc.
"That's playoff basketball," Graham said. "It was part of trying to feel each other out. It was a fun first half."
Shelton's 3-pointer in the second quarter was followed by a Donsha Gaither bucket that extended the Red Elephants lead, 24-19.
Sequoyah's Ayden Watson responded with two straight buckets, including an old-fashion 3-point play to tie the game at 24 2 minutes later. The two continued trading shots with the Chiefs going up 25-24, then Robert Reisman, who led Gainesville, with 18 points tying the game at 26 and lifting Gainesville to the lead, 27-26 on a foul shot minutes later.
But Sequoyah ended the quarter on a 4-0 off a Donovan Ship 3-pointer and a Myles McGhee shot at the half horn, giving the Chiefs a 31-27 halftime advantage.
"They hit a big three right before half that kind of hurt us," Graham said.
Walt Dixon, who scored 10 points, opened the second half scoring six straight points to open the third for Gainesville, including a tip-in to give the Red Elephants the lead 34-33. Reisman also scored a go-ahead bucket with just over 4 minutes to go, 36-35.
Watson, Shipp and McGhee took the Chiefs on an 8-0 run to go up 43-36 before Shelton splashed his fourth 3-pointer at the quarter horn to break the run and end the quarter down, 43-39.
Sequoyah stretched its lead to 10 points with 3:41 to go, and the closest Gainesville would get down the stretch was five points off a Reisman bucket and foul shot, 56-51, with 2:04 left.
"I can't say much more about our effort, we just couldn't get over the hump," Graham said.
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