GAINESVILLE, Ga.— Cade Simmons's game-winning shot wasn't precisely what Gainesville coach Chuck Graham drew up, but he'll take the ending.
In his final regular-season home game at Alumni Gym on Friday, the senior guard nailed a long 3-pointer while fading backward with two Shiloh players on him to push Big Red to the lead with 4 seconds left.
It ended up being the game-winner as Gainesville (14-10, 7-5 Region 8-6A) rallied to a 53-51 win over the Generals (12-13, 8-4 Region 8-6A).
"We drew a play up for him, kind like a fake ball screen play, and Dre [Raven] broke contain, you know, give credit to Shiloh; they took away our first option, but players make plays. I've watched Cade make those shots 100s of times. Now, was it the shot we wanted? Probably not, but we like the results."
Simmons led Gainesville with 23 points, 15 of which came from the 3-point line. Charlie Reisman added 11, and Ellis Pitts had 8.
Big Red struggled to score in the fourth quarter, netting just two points off a pair of Simmons foul shots in the first 4:30 minutes of the quarter.
"That's usually when we would lose our composure, but tonight we continued to fight," Graham said. "We went like a three-minute stretch without scoring, even missed two layups, but we kept getting stops on the defensive end."
Gainesville fell behind by seven points, Shiloh's largest lead of the game, with 3:10 left on a Tylis Jordan bucket.
But after that, it was all Big Red.
Kenotae Flenoy hit three free throws, Simmons bombed a 3-pointer, and Ellis Pitts splashed two foul shots to propel Gainesville on a 10-2 run and inch the game within one point, 51-50, with less than a minute remaining. Gainesville outscored Shiloh 13-2 in the final 1:30 of play.
Gainesville, who forced six turnovers in the quarter, two of which came down the stretch, a turnover in the backcourt, and a shot clock violation, set the Red Elephants up for the go-ahead possession with 12.7 seconds remaining.
Well, as they say, the rest is history.
Gainesville also outrebounded the Generals, who dominated the boards in the first half, down the stretch.
"I'm most proud of how our guys fought on the boards," Graham said. "They outmanned us at pretty much every spot. We got the ones that counted in the fourth quarter. I thought our guys kept fighting."
Gainesville will play Habersham Central on Tuesday in the first round of the Region 8-6A tournament. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. in Mt. Airy. Gainesville split with Habersham Central in the regular season.
"You want to go into a region tournament with momentum, not the win tonight, but the way we won, gives us confidence," Graham said.
GAINESVILLE 62,
SHILOH 14
The game was over at halftime.
The Lady Red Elephants (21-3, 9-3 Region 8-6A) went on a 35-2 run late in the first quarter through the end of the first half to blow open the game, 47-7, and cruise to the win at home.
Gainesville's defensive pressure forced Shiloh (8-16, 4-8 Region 8-6A) into 46 turnovers.
Kedria Young led Gainesville with 18 points, while Zaria Williams added 12.
Caloni Young, back in the lineup after being out with a knee injury for a month, scored 8 points in her final regular-season home game.
The Lady Red Elephants will play the winner of the Apalachee/Jackson County play-in game on Tuesday at Habersham Central.
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