MILTON, Ga. — Gainesville’s Shailyn Jones had herself a night in the first round of the Region 7-5A tournament at Milton High School.
The freshman guard’s 17 first-half points set the tone and led the Gainesville girls basketball team to a 59-32 blowout win over Chattahoochee Tuesday night. The win advanced the Lady Red Elephants to the tournament's semifinals and the Class 5A state tournament.
Jones scored the game's first five points and had seven of the Red Elephants' 17 first-quarter points. She finished the night with 26 points and 11 rebounds, 10 of which came in the second half.
“She came out really aggressive, attacking the rim,” Gainesville coach Vanessa White said about Jones. “She was just hot tonight. She did a great job; I was just really impressed with her aggressiveness, ability to get to the rim, and 3-point shot.”
Jones scored 9 of her 26 points from the 3-point line.
Gainesville’s defense was relentless, forcing 17 turnovers, and Demaria Colburn and Julia Payne recorded four steals each.
Big Red held Chattahoochee to three single-digit quarters, including just six points in the first quarter, and led 31-14 at halftime.
“Our defense came out pressing, and we were playing together,” White said. “Our hands were very active, and that was a big contributor to why we were so successful on defense.”
Gainesville came out in the second half and continued to press, with Payne forcing back-to-back turnovers to push the lead 38-16 with six minutes left in the third. Gainesville led 55-25 at the end of the third.
Gainesville outrebounded Chattahoochee 16-6 in the second half, 10 of which came from Jones.
Colburn finished with 10 points, and Jaucelyn Smith had nine.
Loren Withrite led the Lady Cougars with 13 points.
Gainesville will play top-seeded Milton on Thursday. Tip is 4 p.m. Milton swept the regular season series with a 34-point average margin of victory.
“I told them after the game that we need to play with the same mentality and confidence that we went into this game,” White said about Milton. We need to compete from the first buzzer to the last.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/2/1285967/girls-basketball-gainesville-routes-chattahoochee-to-advance-in-7-5a-tourney