East Hall breached the century mark for the first time in four years, but still had to sweat out a 101-97 win over Chestatee to advance to the semifinals against Flowery Branch at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Johnson High.

The Vikings (3-3) scored 100 or more points for the first time since scoring 107 in a win over White County in 2007.

Vikings guard J.C. Hampton led the way with 27 points, one of five East Hall players in double figures along with Brian Edwards (20), Hayden Chapman (19), T.D. Teasley 15 and Joe Berry (10).

East Hall led 75-59 after three quarters, but the War Eagles (0-9) erupted for 38 points in the final quarter to nearly close the gap.

“Chestatee’s running a new offense that really give them a chance to win,” said East Hall coach Joe Dix. “But our Achilles heel is our free-throw shooting.

“I told the team that ‘if you don’t shoot it better, we’re headed for heartbreak.’”

The War Eagles, led by Jordan Degraff with 26, couldn’t quite break any hearts, although they did make a few at the East Hall gym beat faster as they briefly led before halftime and then made a stirring run late.

Chestatee will face West Hall at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall in the consolation semifinals.

Cole Morgan finished with 19, Keelan Passmore added 18, Justin Jones scored 14 and Lucas Bennett 10 for the War Eagles, who finished with 11 3-pointers.

CHESTATEE GIRLS 54, JEFFERSON 34: Chestatee opened its run toward a second consecutive Lanierland finals appearance with a win over Jefferson on Monday at East Hall High.

Chestatee (7-2) will play North Hall, which defeated West Hall earlier in the day, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall High.

Jefferson (3-7) will play West Hall at noon Tuesday at East Hall in the consolation round.

Erin Clifford paced the Lady War Eagles with 18 points, Maegan Kenimer added 15 and Bridgette Kelly finished with 10 as a young Chestatee team, playing without a single senior, started the same way as last year’s run to the finals, with a win over Jefferson.

“We always come in with a goal of winning the tournament,” said Chestatee coach Web Daniel, who has a host of new faces on this year’s team. 

“You’ve got to win game one before you can win it.”

In the first half Chestatee quickly built a lead, utilizing numerous offensive plays and causing Jefferson fits on defense. The Lady War Eagles led 33-14 at the half on the strength of 11 points apiece by Clifford and Kenimer. 

“Everyone knows when they play us that we run set plays,” Daniel said. “We don’t rely on them, but they help us get easy baskets.”

The high-pressure defense added to Chestatee’s chances for easy buckets. In the first quarter alone, Jefferson turned the ball over 11 times against the Chestatee defense.

Skylar Evanson led the Lady Dragons with 10 and Kelly Goza added 9.

EAST HALL GIRLS 55, JOHNSON 26: Playing without leading scorer, point guard Jasmine Jenkins, the defending Lanierland champion East Hall Lady Vikings still made quick work of Johnson to advance to the semifinals against Gainesville at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall.

The Lady Knights (1-8) will play Flowery Branch at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Senior Morgan Jackson led East Hall (5-0) with 27 points, including 9 of 10 from the free throw line, and adding nine rebounds in a dominating performance.

“Morgan is a really good offensive player,” said East Hall coach Joey Rider. “With Jaz (Jenkins) off the floor, it shows up a little bit more.”

Jackson will likely have the entire tournament to display in full detail her offensive prowess; Jenkins turned her ankle last Thursday and Rider doesn’t expect that she’ll play this week.

Audrianna Lindsey stepped up and added 15 points and 11 rebounds, but Rider is looking for more offense if the Lady Vikings hope to defend their Lanierland title.

“We’re not going to win Lanierland with just Morgan scoring,” Rider said. “We’ve got to get some other players to step up offensively.”

East Hall had plenty of offense against Johnson. Leading just 24-18 at the half, the Vikings outscored the Lady Knights 31-8 the rest of the way, including a 15-0 run to open the fourth quarter.

Harlee Robson led Johnson with eight points.

FLOWERY BRANCH BOYS 67, WEST HALL 52: After a sluggish first half in Monday’s opening round at Lanierland, Flowery Branch (3-3) opened things up and pulled away for a win over West Hall. 

After trailing 25-23 at halftime, the Falcons opened a 13-2 run with a basket and foul shot by Jamaad Stephens, and another shortly thereafter by Jaleel Bailey. When Tyler McBroom hit a 3-pointer for Flowery Branch with 1:32 left to play in the third, it was leading 40-27. 

Flowery Branch coach Duke Mullis said moving to a 1-3-1 trap defense in the second half really helped his team pick up the momentum. 

“I worry about these early-morning games,” Mullis said about the 10:30 a.m. start. “But we came out in the second half and played with a lot of energy.

“That affected our rebounding, our offensive decision-making, and we played a lot better as a team.” 

James Hodges led the Falcons with 19 points and Stephens added 12. 

A.J. Stephens scored a game-high 23 for the Spartans (5-6) and Tyswon Cantrell added 10.

Flowery Branch plays East Hall in the tournament semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Johnson. West Hall faces Chestatee in the consolation round at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall. 

GAINESVILLE GIRLS 43, FLOWERY BRANCH 37: Rebecca Webster scored 14 points with five rebounds for the Lady Red Elephants on Monday to secure a berth in the Lanierland semifinals at East Hall. 

Leading 41-37 with 15 seconds left to play, Gainesville’s Paisley Lee blocked a shot and took it the length of the court for the basket to ensure victory. 

Angel Mickel had three points and seven rebounds for Gainesville (7-3), which took a 20-11 lead into halftime. 

Hunter Pugh scored nine for the Lady Red Elephants.

Flowery Branch (4-5) was led by Tavia Sykes with 19 points.

Gainesville finished the game with a 24-10 rebounding edge. The Red Elephants face the East Hall in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall. Flowery Branch faces Johnson at 3 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall.

NORTH HALL GIRLS 57, WEST HALL 36: McKenna Rushton scored 13 points and Sydney Cleveland added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Trojans (6-2) in Monday’s opening round of the Lanierland tournament at East Hall. 

Tiffany Hamilton added eight points and seven rebounds for North Hall, which faces Chestatee at 6 p.m. Tuesday at East Hall. 

North Hall opened the third quarter with an 8-3 run on a Cleveland 3-pointer to take a 33-24 lead. 

Maia Booker and Kaelyn Gattis led West Hall with eight points each. 

The Lady Spartans (3-8) face Jefferson in the consolation round at noon Tuesday at East Hall.