The North Hall girls had everything going early in their Lanierland tournament championship game against East Hall on Thursday. The Lady Trojans had the energy, the intensity and, most importantly, the lead, which was 10 points at the half.

But East Hall had Morgan Jackson, and that made all the difference.

Jackson, a senior playing in her final Lanierland game, scored 34 points in the game, leading the Lady Vikings to a 64-57 win. The victory gave the team its second consecutive Lanierland title and the program’s 17th overall.

“I wanted this bad,” Jackson said after the game, unable to erase the grin from her face. “This was my last Lanierland, and we just weren’t going to lose this one.”

Jackson got the comeback started right away in the second half, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to take a bite out of the Lady Trojans’ (7-3) lead.

Jasmine Jenkins knocked down a jumper and Audrianna Lindsey sunk a free throw to extend the East Hall (7-0) run to 11 points and give it the lead less than four minutes into the quarter.

“Morgan came out there and hit two threes right off the bat,” East Hall coach Joey Rider said. “Once we got the lead down there, I knew we’d be in it until the end.”

But the Lady Trojans didn’t back down. McKenna Rushton, who finished with 17 points in the game, knocked down consecutive 3-pointers of her own to help North Hall regain its lead.

The two teams battled close midway into the final quarter, but it was Jackson, yet again, who sealed the victory for the Lady Vikings.

Down one, Jackson scored six consecutive points to give East Hall a precarious 57-52 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Then, with time dwindling, she knocked down three free throws to put the game out of reach.

“Morgan’s been a stud for us for four years,” Rider said. “She’s always been our primary threat. We run the offense through her all the time whether she’s hot or not. I’d like to say it was great coaching today, but, really, it was just great playing.”

Jackson had fewer words to describe the game.

“I’m just happy we won,” she said, smiling. “It’s nice.”

North Hall got off to a great start early, in part, because of its energetic offense, which was constantly pushing the ball down the court to put pressure on the East Hall defense.

Rushton came out hot, matching Jackson’s play shot for shot. During one five-minute stretch in the second, Rushton scored 12 of her team’s 16 points to help increase the lead to 12 points.

She was assisted on offense by Taylor Swozowski, who scored 16 points, including three on a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter that made the score 50-46. Swozowski added another 3-pointer with just 1:35 to play that cut the East Hall lead to 59-57.

Rushton took a charge on the ensuing play, but North Hall was unable to convert on its possession.

Rider said that he always believed in his team despite what North Hall did in the first half.

“It didn’t look like we’d be able to win it at halftime,” Rider admitted. “But I believe in our kids, and they believe in themselves. We went into the locker room thinking about what we needed to do to win. We have six seniors on this team, and we weren’t going to give up.”

East Hall will try to keep its unbeaten record intact when it plays in the McDonald’s Shootout beginning on Dec. 28 at Hart County High. North Hall will face Forsyth Central in its opener of the Johnson Holiday Shootout on Dec. 28 at Johnson High.

CHESTATEE GIRLS 41, GAINESVILLE 37: Behind tight defense and a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch, the Chestatee girls were able to hang on for a victory over Gainesville in the third-place game of the Lanierland tournament on Thursday at Johnson High School.

Keke Harris knocked down a 3-pointer for the Lady Red Elephants to put them in the lead with just 1:33 remaining in the game, but Chestatee (8-3) responded with a quick basket and three free throws from Bridgett Kelly in the final minute to secure the victory.

The win gave the Lady War Eagles a third-place finish in the tournament. Gainesville took fourth.

Kelly finished with 10 points in the game, second on the team to Maegan Kenimer’s 18. Hunter Pugh led Gainesville with 11 points and Rebecca Webster added 10.

Gainesville (8-4) will host West Hall next on Jan. 3; Chestatee plays in the Allatoona Christmas Tournament beginning on Dec. 27 at Allatoona High.