Those familiar with the North Hall boys basketball program will notice a change during next week’s Region 8-AAA tournament, as junior point guard Lance White is no longer a member of the team.

White, who helped lead the Trojans to the Class AAA semifinals last year, recently enrolled at Gainesville High, but has yet to put on a jersey or play a minute for the ninth-ranked Red Elephants.

North Hall coach Benjie Wood denied comment on the subject, but Gainesville coach Todd Cottrell confirmed that White is enrolled at the school and is currently keeping statistics for the team.

Cottrell did not state whether or not White would ever play for the Red Elephants, but he did say the junior guard now lives within the city limits and has filed all the necessary paper work with the Georgia High School Association to become eligible to play.

“We’re still waiting on a response from them,” Cottrell said Thursday.

With a bevy of talented guards on his roster, including Tray Harrison, Shaquan Cantrell, Deshaun Watson, Mike Norman and Javez Warren, and the fact that he’d have to learn a new system as Gainesville gears up for the postseason, playing time would likely be limited for White even if he was cleared by the GHSA.

Gainesville opens the Region 8-AAA tournament as the No. 2 seed from subregion “B” and its first game could be against North Hall on Wednesday. North Hall opens the region tournament against the sixth seed from subregion “A” on Tuesday.

RECORD-BREAKING NIGHT: Lost in the shuffle of Tuesday’s games was the performance of Towns County junior Gabby Arencibia, who scored a career-high 43 points in a win over Commerce.

While 43 points is certainly amazing, it’s how she got those points that stands out. Arencibia went 13-for-26 from 3-point range — a new state record for made 3s according to gasports.com — and 2-for-4 from the rest of field to keep the Lady
Indians undefeated in Region 8A-A.

Arencibia also filled out the stat sheet Tuesday with four rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals.
Towns County (23-1, 12-0) opens the Region 8-A tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Commerce.