OAKWOOD — With the scored tied going into the second overtime Thursday night at West Hall High, East Hall’s Jasmine Jenkins knew that she had to put the Lady Vikings’ offense on her back if they were to win the 2010 Lanierland Tournament.
And that’s just what she did, scoring East Hall’s final three points in that second overtime to lead the Lady Vikings to a 38-33 victory over Chestatee and give the school its first girls Lanierland Tournament title since 2006.
“This feel great,” said Jenkins, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “To know all the hard work I’ve put in and the team has put in led up to winning this tournament, it just feels amazing.”
The junior scored 10 of East Hall’s final 14 points Thursday and finished with a game-high 18.
“I told Jasmine in the third that she was going to have to take over,” East Hall coach Joey Rider said. “Our shots just weren’t falling and I knew that to come out of here with a win, Jasmine was going to have to step up.
“And she did.”
East Hall (5-2) led 24-18 going into the fourth quarter, but a furious rally from Chestatee saw the Lady War Eagles take their first lead of the second half, 28-26, with 2:44 left in regulation.
That surge was led by Peyton Robertson, who scored five of her seven points in the fourth quarter for Chestatee (8-1).
“Her shots weren’t falling in the first half,” Chestatee coach Web Daniel said of Robertson. “But she kept battling even though she was being double- and triple-teamed every time she touched the ball and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Robertson missed a possible game-winning shot as time expired in regulation and then again missed a free throw with 10.1 seconds left on the clock in the first overtime that would have given Chestatee a one-point lead.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Robertson said. “But I’m proud of how hard we played.”
The senior finished the game with four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Robertson was backed by Melissa Bailey, who had 12 points and eight rebounds, both team highs.
“(Bailey) was big for us,” Daniel said. “She ran the offense and stepped up to make plays when we needed her to, which is what we expect out of a senior.”
Despite Robertson and Bailey’s excellent play, it wasn’t enough to overcome Jenkins and the Lady Vikings.
East Hall took a 16-13 lead into halftime, led by four points and five rebounds from Morgan Jackson, who finished the night with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Jackson, a junior, said that she got down a little bit after only scoring two points in the first quarter, but decided to keep working on the boards since it seemed her shot wouldn’t fall.
“I just wanted to do whatever I could to help out the team,” Jackson said. “So I committed myself to working hard for rebounds and hoping the shots would start to fall.”
That commitment showed through at the end of regulation; Jackson had six rebounds in overtime and came through with a charge and a steal in the game’s waning seconds to seal the victory for East Hall.
NORTH HALL GIRLS 55, GAINESVILLE 42: The Lady Trojans held Gainesville to only four points in the first quarter to take a 17-4 lead and never looked back en route to winning the third-place game Thursday.
MaryKate Rushton had a team-high 16 points and was followed by McKenna Rushton with 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals for North Hall.
“I’m tremendously happy with our effort tonight and this week,” North Hall coach Kristi House said. “I hope that we can learn a lot from this and use it to build on going into the rest of the season.”
Taylor Swoszowski scored 10 points with four steals and Sarah Paschall added seven points and seven rebounds for North Hall (4-4).
For Gainesville (5-7), Mikalyn DeFoor had a game-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers. The senior was helped by six points and five rebounds from Rebecca Webster, who scored Gainesville’s only points in the first period.
“That first quarter really got us,” Gainesville coach Manson Hill said. “The rest of the game we were pretty much dead even with North Hall, but coming out with only four points in the first really hurt us.”
Gainesville outscored North Hall 9-7 in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 24-13.