Tuesday’s games
REGION 8-AAAAA
at Gainesville
6 p.m. — Salem boys 55, Flowery Branch 51
7:30 p.m. — Gainesville boys 82, Loganville 51
at Cedar Shoals
6 p.m. — Heritage boys 69, Apalachee 67
7:30 p.m. — Cedar Shoals boys 64, Lanier 51
REGION 8-A
at Athens Academy
4 p.m. — Lakeview girls vs. Athens Academy
5:30 p.m. — Lakeview boys vs. Athens Academy
7 p.m. — Athens Christian girls vs. Providence Christian
Wednesday’s games
REGION 8-AAAAA
at Flowery Branch
6 p.m. — Clarke Central girls vs. Winder-Barrow
7:30 p.m. — Flowery Branch girls vs. Heritage
at Loganville
6 p.m. — Gainesville girls vs. Cedar Shoals
7:30 p.m. — Loganville girls vs. Lanier
REGION 8-AAAA
at North Hall
6 p.m. — White County boys vs. North Oconee
7:30 p.m. — North Hall boys vs. Johnson
at Buford
4 p.m. – Chestatee girls vs North Hall
5:30 p.m. – Monroe Area vs Stephens County
7 p.m. – White County girls vs Buford
8:30 p.m. Madison County boys vs Buford
at North Oconee
6 p.m. – Stephens County girls vs Madison County
7:30 p.m. Monroe Area girls vs North Oconee
REGION 7-AAA
at West Hall
4:30 p.m. — Banks County girls vs. Franklin County
6 p.m. — West Hall girls vs. Fannin County
7:30 p.m. — East Hall girls vs. Lumpkin County
at East Hall
4:30 p.m. – Lumpkin County boys vs Dawson County
6 p.m. – West Hall boys vs Fannin County
7:30 p.m. – East Hall boys vs Franklin County
Thursday’s games
Region 8-A
At Athens Academy
6 p.m. — Athens Christian boys vs. Towns County
Benjie Wood said he always knew he had great role players to step up, no matter the situation.
He found playing time for all of them in Gainesville’s 82-51 rout of Loganville in the Region 8-AAAAA quarterfinals Tuesday night at the Gainesville High gym.
Eleven different scorers led the way for the Red Elephants, who combined for 12 3-pointers on a night where leading scorer and Georgia State signee D’Marcus Simonds (stomach flu) was unavailable.
“We’ve got some great teammates,” said Wood. “This was their time to shine.”
Xavier Bledson (16 points) led the way with four treys for Gainesville, including two in the first quarter where the Red Elephants jumped out to a 9-point lead. That was before Bledson, Tae Turner (8 points) and Michael White (10 points) knocked down three unanswered treys.
Michael White and Bailey Minor (13 points) even got the chance to throw down a thunderous dunk apiece to push the margin to 42-18 by halftime.
Gainesville (19-4) totalled 21 points each in the first, second and third quarters.
“It was a whole team effort,” said Bledson, who said he hadn’t felt so good in a game so far this season. “Coach likes me to try and shoot when I can. He tells me to shoot until I know it’s going in.”
Gainesville will next play Salem in the 8-AAAAA semifinals Friday evening at Winder-Barrow. The game is expected to tip at 8:30 p.m.
Wood shuffled in his bench midway through the third quarter, introducing contributors like Austin Long (8 points), Farris Mance (5 points), Brent Kelly (4 points), Ross Tipton (4 points, which came on back-to-back dunks in the fourth quarter).
Gainesville led by as many as 36 points at one point in the third quarter. The Red Elephants are on a seven-game win streak.
Loganville was led by senior Tyler Rhodes, who pushed the Red Devils with 33 points. He sank three of Loganville’s seven 3-pointers and finished with 15 points in the fourth quarter.
No other Loganville player reached double digits.
Wood said he was going to focus on keeping his team healthy, which will include getting Simonds back from illness.
“We’re just focusing on us,” said Wood. “Our kids are really understanding what we want for them and what we’re doing. One of the biggest things about this team is that they’re unselfish. They support one another through it all.”