FLOWERY BRANCH — North Hall captured its first region title since 2010, rallying from a 14-point second half deficit to beat White County 82-81 on Tuesday night in the Region 7-3A finals at the Cherokee Bluff gym.
North Hall coach Miles Kendall, who was named the 7-A Coach of the Year, said his team’s resilience came through down the stretch.
“We’ve battled so many injuries this year that the entire bench has had to step up and they did that again tonight,” Kendall said. “We came out flat in the third quarter and I just told them to calm down and play their game. I couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys than I am with this bunch, which is a fun group to coach.”
The Trojans (23-4) trailed the Warriors (17-9) 53-39 midway through the third quarter but Korbyn Sosebee hit back-to-back 3-pointers following one from Sam Gailey to ignite what eventually turned into a 26-8 run deep into the fourth quarter for a 65-61 lead.
White County and 7-3A Player of the Year Jadon Yeh did not go away, however. Yeh hit a pair of free throws and Tavi Simmons hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
But North Hall sophomore point guard Luke Sanders hit 5-of-6 free throws and the Trojans hit 12-of-16 in the OT to build an 80-70 lead with just over a minute left.
“It’s amazing what having a true point guard can do for you, especially with all the injuries we’ve had this year,” Kendall said. “Luke just knows what to do and really drives a lot of what we do.”
White County would rally as Yeh converted a three-point play and then hit a long 3-pointer to pull the Warriors within 80-76. Sanders and Zach McCoy each hit a free throw for North Hall to push the lead back to 82-76 lead with under 20 seconds remaining.
Again, White County answered, with Dawson Oliver scoring with 10 seconds left. White County’s Kenny Simpson hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer with 1 second left and wanted a foul call after getting knocked to the floor but didn’t get it as time ran out.
Now, both teams will get ready for the Class 3A playoffs, which begin next Tuesday.
“I feel like we’re playing pretty well right now but it’s hard to say if we’re peaking because we've had so many guys out,” Kendall said. “We have depth and we’re trying to use that as best we can.”
Yeh led all scorers with 30 points, but he was held to just 9 in the second half and overtime. Silas Mulligan poured in 20 for White County before fouling out with just over three minutes left, which proved to be a big loss for the Warriors. Simpson chipped in 14 and Noah Futch 10 for White County.
Gailey paced North Hall with 20 points. Sanders finished with 19, including three big 3-pointers, Robert Terry had 17, with 11 coming after halftime, and Sosebee had 12, all in the second half for the Trojans.
EAST FORSYTH 57,
GILMER 55
The Broncos stormed out to a 24-10 advantage to open the game and held off a furious second half rally by Gilmer to win the third-place game.
East Forsyth (11-18) came into the tournament as the No. 8 but pulled two upsets to get into the state playoffs and got a third against the Bobcats (19-10).
But Gilmer, trailing 34-20 at halftime, got hot in the second half behind Ethan Banks and Jackson McVey to get back in the game. Banks poured in all 16 of his points and McVey had all 10 of his points in the second half. The Bobcats got within 45-37 heading into the fourth quarter and pulled within 54-52 in the final minute.
But the Broncos, behind Bryce Bracco, who had a game-high 20 points, including six 3 pointers and 14 in the second half, hit two big free throws to push it back to a four-point lead, 56-52, with 15 seconds left. A three-point play by McVey pulled Gilmer within a point but the Broncos hit 1-of-2 free throws with 2 seconds left and Gilmer was not able to get a shot off in the final second.
Matthew Rouse finished with 18 for East Forsyth.
Cade Carter had 12 points for the Bobcats.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/2/1078543/region-7-3a-boys-final-2-15-22