East Hall guard Jasmine Jenkins can hit a shot from just about anywhere on the court.

Friday night at North Hall, her aim at the free throw line made the difference.

The Lady Vikings held off the Lady Trojans 53-45, due in large part to a 17 for 21 night at the line, including 13 of 14 in the final quarter. Jenkins went 9 for 10 from the line in the final 2:13 of the game.

"That’s clutch, that’s what that is," said East Hall coach Joey Rider, whose team had only been shooting around 50 percent at the free throw line prior to tonight. "That’s what good teams do."

Jenkins, who finished with a team-high 29 points, doesn’t see herself as a great free throw shooter.

"I wouldn’t say I’m a good free throw shooter," Jenkins said. "But I’m a confident free throw shooter."

She also doesn’t mind a win over a Hall County rival, even if it means diving onto the scorers table, which she did early in the third, to grab a loose ball.

"It always feels good to beat North Hall," Jenkins said. "I’m pretty sore but it was worth it.

"I don’t mind sacrificing my body to win a game."

Jenkins wasn’t able to call timeout in the midst of the dive and couldn’t gain possession, but East Hall (3-0) had the ball when it mattered most in the final minutes.

The game, which went back and forth the entire night, swung to the Lady Vikings for good with 2:13 remaining in the game and down 41-40.

North Hall senior Mary Kate Rushton, who would finish with six points, was whistled for a technical after reacting to a foul call against the Lady Trojans (3-2).

Lady Vikings forward Morgan Jackson made both her free throws for the foul, Jenkins made two more for the technical, and East Hall kept possession with a 44-41 lead. The Lady Vikings wouldn’t trail again.

"We went from down one to up three with the ball and that allowed us to kill the clock and make them foul us," Rider said. "That was a real momentum swing."

North Hall would score just four more points the rest of the way, but was forced to send Jenkins to the line four more times, where she went 7 of 8 to finally give East Hall enough separation.

"After that it was hard for us to pick it back up," said Lady Trojans coach Kristi House. "We seemed a little deflated after that."

Point guard Taylor Swoszowski, who finished with a team-high 16 points, scored North Hall’s final points of the night to get within 48-45. They were her only two points of the second half.

Senior McKenna Rushton finished with 12 points for North Hall, which came into the game No. 10 in Class AAA.

Morgan Jackson added 12 points on the night for Class AA’s eighth-ranked East Hall, which plays again on Dec. 17 at Flowery Branch. North Hall hosts Johnson at 6 p.m. tonight.

North Hall will have a chance to even the series rivalry against East Hall at the Lanierland Tournament next week. And while East Hall is currently in Class AA and North Hall in Class AAA, both will be in Region 7-AAA starting next year.

Rider does concede, however, that with two senior-laden teams, the rivalry will have a number of new faces next season.

But it certainly won’t fade in importance.

NORTH HALL BOYS 68, EAST HALL 54: "It’s always great when we play East Hall, it’s such a great rivalry," said North Hall coach Benjie Wood. "We have such a respect for the East Hall program and coach Joe Dix.

"We’ll go out and compete hard on the floor and the hug each other around the neck when we’re done."

This meeting wasn’t as close as others, the Trojans held the Vikings at arms length throughout the second half and got scoring help from all over the floor with five players scoring in double figures. Amin Aziz led North Hall with 13, Ethan Smith (11), Preston Smith (10), Griffin Olson (10) and Imani Cross (10).

East Hall was led by J.C. Hampton and Brian Edwards with 14 each. Hampton’s first points of the game, a 3-pointer early in the first, pushed him past 1,000 career points scored.