With seconds draining from the clock in the fourth quarter, Courtney Newton trusted her players to spread the court and see if they could get one last open look.

Her hopes were in good hands. With the score tied, junior Julianne Sutton snagged an inside pass from teammate Lexie Sengkhammee, polished off a turnaround jumper with 3.6 seconds left and nailed the ensuing free throw to secure a 45-42 win Tuesday night over rival Gainesville.

The victory keeps Flowery Branch (20-1, 10-1 Region 8-AAAAA) squarely in the race for the No. 1 seed ahead of the region tournament.

“We just wanted to get the best shot we could and it came to me,” said Sutton. “I didn’t know how much time had gone when the shot went in, so I checked the clock and was so excited.”

Flowery Branch avenged its lone loss of the season on Jan. 8 at home against Gainesville with an inspiring road comeback. The Lady Red Elephants (14-4, 10-1) led by three with 1:07 left to play before senior Maddie Hetzel (nine points) knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer from the right edge.

The Lady Falcons then drew a charge call on No. 8 Gainesville’s next possession, which led to Sengkhammee and Sutton linking up in the paint.

The Flowery Branch bench erupted on the final buzzer after handing Gainesville its first loss in region play, a defeat that breaks Gainesville’s seven-game win streak dating back to Dec. 30. Taniyah Worth added eight points for Flowery Branch, while Sengkhammee added six.

The two teams are now tied for first in the 8-AAAAA North subregion.

“We needed that 3 by Maddie,” said Newton. “I thought our defense in the fourth quarter was really key. You’ve got to finish out, I told them just now, it’s about surviving and advancing from now on. We’re thankful to get the win.”

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Lady Red Elephants, who came back from 12 points down in the second quarter to lead 36-32 entering the final seven minutes of action.

Fair notched 10 of her game-high 15 points to lead Gainesville’s revival in the second half, where it opened up a 17-2 run and overtook Flowery Branch’s 26-17 halftime lead.

Taylor Hawks and Tija Blackwell combined for 20 points for Gainesville, but the hosts could only muster one field goal – a jumper by Shikiya Brown – in the fourth quarter.

Flowery Branch is now just one win away from securing the same win total (21) as last year. The Lady Falcons have already made this a year to remember after winning this season’s Lanierland tournament, and are looking to break through in the postseason. Flowery Branch’s senior class has never played beyond the first round of the state playoffs.

“It’s a big deal, a win over our biggest rivals,” said Sutton. “It’ll help us prepare ourselves mentally for what’s coming down the road. We need to come together as a team and as a family to get through tough games like this.”
Gainesville next travels to play Lanier at 4 p.m. Thursday before its final regular season home game against Discovery on Friday.

Flowery Branch next travels to Winder-Barrow on Friday before finishing the season with home region games against Discovery (Feb. 2), Lanier (Feb. 5) and Apalachee (Feb. 6).

GAINESVILLE BOYS 73, FLOWERY BRANCH 45: The third-ranked Red Elephants used a 22-3 run to open the contest and scored seven 3-pointers in the first half to stay undefeated in region play.

D’Marcus Simonds led Gainesville (14-4, 11-0 in Region 8-AAAAA) with 22 points, while Bailey Minor and KJ Buffen both scored 16 points each to sink their rivals for the second time this month.

Gainesville topped Flowery Branch on the road on Jan. 8.

The Falcons (12-8, 3-7) were led by Brannon Clark (15 points) who was the only Flowery Branch player to reach double digits.

Gainesville outscored the visitors 24-6 in the first quarter, led by 31 at the half and had a 38-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.

Gainesville started shuffling in its bench midway through the third quarter and rested all of its starters for the entirety of the fourth quarter.

Minor scored four of Gainesville’s treys, while Simonds scored the other three, all in the first quarter. Simonds and Buffen combined for four Gainesville dunks throughout the game.

The Red Elephants next travel to Lanier at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before hosting Discovery in the final regular season home game on Friday.

Flowery Branch next travels to Winder-Barrow on Friday before finishing the season with home region tussles against Discovery (Feb. 2), Lanier (Feb. 5) and Apalachee (Feb. 6).