BOGART — In a battle of the two hottest teams in Region 8-4A, Class 4A ninth-ranked North Oconee rallied past No. 5 Jefferson, 69-62, on Tuesday in both teams’ regular-season finales.
It also was a tale of two halves. The Dragons (21-3, 10-2 Region 8-4A) who came in on a five-game win streak, already had secured the No. 1 seed an automatic state playoff berth. They opened the game with an 18-14 first quarter and extended their lead to 37-29 by halftime.
The Titans (18-7, 8-4 Region 8-4A) had won six straight coming in and used a huge third quarter to grab the lead and then held on down the stretch. North Oconee outscored Jefferson 25-12 in the third to take a 54-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Dalen Gales led Jefferson with 26 points. Kaiden Bailey added 16 for the Dragons.
Jefferson gets a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament and will not play until the semifinals.
JACKSON COUNTY 74,
JOHNSON 21
Charlie Fox scored 15 points to lead Jackson County past Johnson on Tuesday.
The Panthers were up 38-15 at the half and 48-16 at the end of the third to walk away with the win.
Jake Shaw led Johnson with 7 points.
LAMBERT 69,
GAINESVILLE 60
The Red Elephants' rally wasn't enough to overcome a 20-point fourth quarter deficit in the regular-season finale on Tuesday at home.
The game opened as a back-and-forth affair until Lambert (15-10, 7-5 Region 6-7A) went on a 12-2 run to end the first half up 34-22. The Longhorns upped their lead, 48-30 with 2:48 left in the third quarter, outscoring Gainesville, 23-10 since the two-minute mark in the second quarter.
Gainesville (5-15, 1-11 Region 6-7A), however, rallied back late thanks to Dre Raven's seven points and Charlie Reisman's five points to cut the lead to 69-60.
Reisman led the Red Elephants with 19 points, Julius Jackson had 12, Raven with 9, and Ellis Pitts with 8.
Gainesville will play Forsyth Central in the Region 6-7A play-in game on Friday at North Forsyth High School. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/2/1076635/boys-basketball-no-5-jefferson-falls-to-no-9-n-oconee