One thing is guaranteed after the first night in the 49th Annual Lanierland Tournament: The East Hall boys will not win their seventh straight title.

Ethan Satterfield had 18 points and Chase Syfan 13 to lead North Hall to a 98-84 win over the Vikings (1-2) on Friday night at North Hall High.

With the win, the Trojans move on to the semifinal round where they will face West Hall which beat Gainesville 75-68 in the nightcap.

“It was a total team effort tonight,” North Hall coach Benji Wood said. “I have such a great group of young men who have sold out to committing to each other.

“I’m having a whole bunch of fun coaching them right now.”

There wasn’t a player who took the floor for North Hall on Friday night who scored less than six points, and five Trojans scored in double figures.

“We all came together tonight,” Satterfield said. “We had a great week of practice and were confident.”

A key to the Trojans’ win was handling East Hall’s relentless defensive pressure and rebounding ability. North Hall took care of both those by limiting turnovers and outrebounding the Vikings 22-16.

“You have to handle their pressure and rebound,” Wood said. “Our kids did a great job rebounding tonight.”

North Hall took an early 8-5 lead only to see East Hall come roaring back to end the first quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 17-11 lead.

As would be the case the entire night, North Hall matched the Vikings’ run and was able to take a four-point lead late in the first half on made free throws and a timely 3-point basket by sophomore Chris Barnes.

East Hall answered, however, with back-to-back 3-pointers of its own by junior Greg Edwards to take a 45-44 lead into halftime.

A goal of North Hall’s, according to its coach, was to not fall victim to the tradition that is East Hall.
The Trojans reached that goal with their second half play.

The Trojans staved off every East Hall attempt to take the lead in the second half. Case in point, after the Vikings cut it to one on a Kymmon Woods 3-pointer, North Hall responded with an 8-0 run led by Trevor Ross’ four points to cushion its lead.

Leading 73-64 at the start of the fourth, North Hall went a 6-2 run to begin the fourth quarter and seal the win. The Vikings cut it to four with four minutes left, but that was as close as they would come.

Robbie Hill finished with 11 points for North Hall while Ross and Tyler Browning had 10 points each with Ross also grabbing seven rebounds.

“This is what happends when you get outplayed,” East Hall coach Joe Dix said. “They played harder than us, they finished better than us around the rim, they shot the ball better than us. They were just better than us.

“We got outcoached, we got outplayed. This (East Hall) isn’t a very good team right now.”

Edwards led the Vikings with 16 points while Woods finished with 14. Dre Perry had 12 points, Chaz Cheeks 11 points and seven rebounds and Marguel Smith 10 for an East Hall team that won’t be making a Lanierland finals appearance for the first time in over 14 years.

The Vikings return to action at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when they play Gainesville in consolation round of the Lanierland Tournament at North Hall High.

East Hall girls 44, Lakeview 31
Led by Symone Hampton’s 11 points, the East Hall girls beat Lakeview in the first round of the Lanierland Tournament on Friday at North Hall High.

Freshman Morgan Jackson chipped in 10 for the Lady Vikings who took control of the game with a 14-5 run to start the fourth quarter.

The Lady Lions were led by Maddie Haymore and Louisa Jacobs who both had 10 points.

The Lady Vikings return to action at 7 p.m. Friday night at Gainesville High when they play North Hall in the Lanierland semifinals.

Lakeview next plays Johnson at 7 p.m. Tuesday at North Hall High in the Lanierland Tournament consolation round.

North Hall girls 59, Johnson 47

Freshman McKenna Rushton had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven steals to lead the No. 1 seed North Hall to a win over Johnson.

The Lady Trojans fought off a six-point halftime deficit by going on a 9-0 run to end the third quarter and take a 42-41 lead into the fourth. Rushton and fellow freshman Taylor Tate led the way in the run hitting for all nine points.

North Hall then began the fourth on an 8-0 run capped by a Shakeyla Rucker jumper to seal the win.
Tate had 13 points for the Lady Trojans and sophomore Rucker added 10.

Johnson was led by Caitlin Sloan and Harlee Robson who each had 11 points.

With the win, North Hall will play East Hall at 7 p.m. Friday night at Gainesville High in the semifinals of the Lanierland Tournament.

Johnson next plays Lakeview at 7 p.m. Tuesday at North Hall High in the consolation round.

West Hall boys 75, Gainesville 68

Shunquez Stephens led West Hall with 28 points and 14 rebounds in its win over Gainesville in the first round of the Lanierland Tournament on Friday night at North Hall High.

The Spartans led by as many as 11 before Gainesville tied it at 51 at the end of the third quarter on a driving layup by sophomore Will Maddox and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Robert Humphrey.

West Hall responded by outscoring Gainesville 24-17 in the fourth quarter for the win.

Spartans point guard Kavon Williams led the fourth-quarter charge with 12 of his 14 points.

The Red Elephants were led by George Manomano with 25 points.

West Hall returns to action at 8:30 p.m. Friday when it plays North Hall in the Lanierland semifinals at Gainesville High.

Gainesville next plays at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday against East Hall in the consolation round of the Lanierland Tournament at North Hall High.