Lanierland semifinals
North Hall girls vs. Lakeview, 4 p.m.
West Hall boys vs. North Hall, 5:30 p.m.
East Hall girls vs. Gainesville, 7 p.m.
East Hall boys vs. Flowery Branch, 8:30 p.m.
*All game will be played Thursday at Flowery Branch High
GAINESVILLE — There was no stopping the high-tempo pace of the East Hall girls in Saturday’s game against Chestatee.
Even with a substantial lead, the Lady Vikings (2-1) decided to keep things moving at a rapid pace en route to a 43-32 win against Chestatee in the first round of the 50th Annual Lanierland Tournament at Lakeview Academy.
“I don’t think we played really well today,” East Hall coach Joey Rider said. “But we played hard for 32 minutes, which is what it is going to take to win.”
Leading 31-27 after a Peyton Robertson (18 points) putback for Chestatee (3-3), the Lady Vikings hurried back down court and Jasmine Jenkins drained a 3-pointer to push their lead to 36-27 with 4:10 left in the game.
“The guard play really makes East Hall so tough,” Chestatee coach Web Daniel said. “And right now their guards are just better than ours.”
Jalisa Stephens kept the lead in double figures for East Hall with a driving layup, making it 40-27 with only 2:02 left to play.
Dorreka Faulkner and Morgan Jackson each finished with a team-high 12 points for East Hall and Jenkins finished with 11.
Faulkner knocked down a 3-pointer after getting an open pass early in the fourth quarter to give the Lady Vikings a 31-25 lead. East Hall finished with three 3-pointers in each quarter of the game.
“We had a tough time getting the ball inside and that’s a credit to the play inside for Chestatee,” Rider said. “They’re going to take the paint away and make you shoot.”
Despite the solid defensive effort, shooting woes were costly to Chestatee. The Lady War Eagles missed on six consecutive 3-pointers to start the game.
After falling behind 7-2 early in the game, Chestatee got to within 10-8 on an easy layup inside by Robertson.
She also battled past two defenders for a layup to draw her team within one at 21-20 with only :05 seconds left in the opening half.
East Hall’s Morgan Jackson knocked down an open 3-pointer on the game’s first shot and the Lady Vikings never trailed the entire game.
In the third quarter, East Hall weathered good defensive play by Chestatee with a steal and layup by Faulkner to extend its lead to 25-20, followed by a 3-pointer by Jackson in the final minute of the quarter.
With the win, East Hall advances to face the Flowery Branch/Gainesville winner at 7 p.m. Thursday at Flowery Branch. Chestatee faces the Flowery Branch/Gainesville loser at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeview.
EAST HALL BOYS 78, CHESTATEE 43: The Vikings finished with 16 different players scoring in the opening round game of the Lanierland Tournament on Saturday at Lakeview Academy.
Joshua Hampton led the Vikings with 10 points. Charles Perry and Dre Perry each added eight points for the Vikings.
The Vikings (2-1) held a 25-12 lead after the first quarter and extended their lead to 43-20 by halftime.
Scott Chewning finished with a game-high 12 points for Chestatee (3-4) while Lamar Brooks scored eight points for the War Eagles.
With the win, East Hall faces the Flowery Branch at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Flowery Branch in the Lanierland Tournament semifinals. Chestatee faces Gainesville at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeview.
GAINESVILLE GIRLS 45, FLOWERY BRANCH 34: Jaymee Carnes led the Lady Red Elephants with 17 points and 19 rebounds in an opening round victory Saturday at Lakeview Academy.
Rebecca Webster added eight points and 13 rebounds for Gainesville (2-3).
"I felt like they outrebounded us in the first half," Gainesville coach Manson Hill said. "But we started rebounding better in the second half and holding them to one shot."
Carnes helped the Lady Red Elephants build a comfortable lead with a 3-pointer to extend their advantage to 29-22 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
Then with 7:10 left in the game, Carnes hit a layup and drew a foul to kick the lead out to 31-25.
Jessica Harper responded with back-to-back 3-point baskets for the Lady Falcons (2-2) to draw her team back within three points.
Kate Callahan and Mikalyn DeFoor added basks for the Lady Red Elephants in the final minutes to help secure their win.
Harper finished with a game-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers for Flowery Branch.
With the win, Gainesville advances to the semifinals to face East Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday at Flowery Branch. Flowery Branch faces Chestatee at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeview.
FLOWERY BRANCH BOYS 68, GAINESVILLE 67: The final game of the opening round in the Lanierland tournament went right down to the wire. Trailing 68-67 with 30 seconds remaining in the game, Gainesville took the ball down court and played for the final possession at Lakeview Academy.
Gainesville’s Bershad Williams went up for a layup only to have his shot batted away with :05 seconds remaining and preserve the Falcons’ victory.
Ishmael Hollis led Flowery Branch (1-0) with a game-high 38 points and Otis Clark added 11. Hollis put in a key jump shot for the Falcons with 1:25 left to play to extend their lead to 68-64.
Quon Holcombe led the Red Elephants (0-2) with 21 points, Ty Redmon finished with 14, Williams scored 11 and Chris West added 10.
With the win, Flowery Branch advances to the semifinals to face East Hall at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Flowery Branch. Gainesville plays Chestatee at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeview Academy.