CEDARTOWN - Despite a very gutsy effort, the North Hall Trojans saw their season come to an end Wednesday night in the second round of the Class AAA state playoffs as Cedartown pulled out a heart-pounding 54-50 win.
“This is a heck of a win,” Cedartown coach Benji Frazier said. “But I take my hat off to North Hall, they had no quit in them.”
Cedartown, the Region 6-AAA runner-up, led by as many as 19 points midway through the third quarter before the Trojans finished the period on a 12-2 run to cut it to 45-36.
North Hall, the No. 4 seed from region seven, kept cutting into the Bulldogs lead in the fourth quarter and with 49 seconds left Lance White hit a jumper to bring the Trojans to within 50-47.
After a Justin Price free throw with 43 seconds remaining pushed Cedartown’s lead to 51-47, North Hall’s Chris Barnes hit a three-pointer to bring the Trojans to within one at 51-50 with 28 seconds remaining.
With 25 seconds left on the clock, Cedartown’s Dion Smith stepped to the charity stripe and hit two free throws to push the Bulldogs advance to 53-50.
North Hall (21-9) had a chance to tie the game with six seconds left but Ethan Satterfield’s three-pointer from the wing was off the mark. Smith then made a free throw with four seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs the victory.
The start of the game was delayed nearly an hour-and-a-half as the officials went to the wrong school. The scheduled tip-off was 7 p.m. but instead the ball didn’t go in the air until 8:28 p.m.
The wait didn’t bother the home team as the Bulldogs (21-9) scored the first six points of the game and lead 10-4. Cedartown took a 18-8 lead into the second quarter and after North Hall went on a 8-2 run to cut the Bulldogs lead to 22-16, Cedartown responded with four straight points and went into halftime up 26-18.
Cedartown started the second half on a 17-6 run to go ahead 43-24 before the Trojans started rallying back.
Satterfield had 13 points to lead the Trojans offense and Chris Barnes added 11. For Cedartown, Brandon Brown had 15 points and nine rebounds while Smith had 14 points and Dewayne Jupiter had 13 points and seven boards.
“This is a heck of a win,” Cedartown coach Benji Frazier said. “But I take my hat off to North Hall, they had no quit in them.”
Cedartown, the Region 6-AAA runner-up, led by as many as 19 points midway through the third quarter before the Trojans finished the period on a 12-2 run to cut it to 45-36.
North Hall, the No. 4 seed from region seven, kept cutting into the Bulldogs lead in the fourth quarter and with 49 seconds left Lance White hit a jumper to bring the Trojans to within 50-47.
After a Justin Price free throw with 43 seconds remaining pushed Cedartown’s lead to 51-47, North Hall’s Chris Barnes hit a three-pointer to bring the Trojans to within one at 51-50 with 28 seconds remaining.
With 25 seconds left on the clock, Cedartown’s Dion Smith stepped to the charity stripe and hit two free throws to push the Bulldogs advance to 53-50.
North Hall (21-9) had a chance to tie the game with six seconds left but Ethan Satterfield’s three-pointer from the wing was off the mark. Smith then made a free throw with four seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs the victory.
The start of the game was delayed nearly an hour-and-a-half as the officials went to the wrong school. The scheduled tip-off was 7 p.m. but instead the ball didn’t go in the air until 8:28 p.m.
The wait didn’t bother the home team as the Bulldogs (21-9) scored the first six points of the game and lead 10-4. Cedartown took a 18-8 lead into the second quarter and after North Hall went on a 8-2 run to cut the Bulldogs lead to 22-16, Cedartown responded with four straight points and went into halftime up 26-18.
Cedartown started the second half on a 17-6 run to go ahead 43-24 before the Trojans started rallying back.
Satterfield had 13 points to lead the Trojans offense and Chris Barnes added 11. For Cedartown, Brandon Brown had 15 points and nine rebounds while Smith had 14 points and Dewayne Jupiter had 13 points and seven boards.