Kayla Smith had 12 points and Jessica Hart added eight points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Falcons advanced to the second round of the Region 7-AAA tournament with a 49-42 win over White County on Monday afternoon at West Hall High.
It took both teams the better part of a quarter to get going offensively with the Lady Falcons (9-14) not scoring until a Molly May 3-pointer at the one-minute, 22-second mark in the first quarter.
Flowery Branch trailed by one point at the beginning of the final period, but that small deficit was overcome quickly when Clare Tyler hit a 3-pointer one minute into the quarter, which was followed by a Kristy Harper jumper from the lane on the Lady Falcons subsequent possession, making it 35-31 Flowery Branch.
The Lady Falcons would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the game as they hit for 19 points in the final period.
Despite only hitting 3-of-19 shots, the Lady Warriors (7-18) Lindsey Wiley led her team with 11 points.
Amanda Watkins had nine points for White County whose season concluded with the loss.
With the win, Flowery Branch moves on to play East Hall at 4 p.m. today at West Forsyth High School.
Lumpkin County 50, Johnson 39
E.J. Young had 14 points and Indians’ big man Shawn Chapman added 13 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting to give Lumpkin County a win over Johnson on Monday evening at West Hall High.
With the win, Lumpkin County (6-20) moves into the second round of the Region 7-AAA tournament, where it will face East Hall at 5:30 tonight at West Forsyth High School.
Running an offense similar to the stall offenses run in the waning minutes of a game to preserve a team’s win, Lumpkin County not only got easy layups when Johnson’s defense would break down, but held Johnson to under 20 points through three quarters.
The Indians got the win despite never taking an outside shot. Every point scored was a result of a layup or free throw.
Chris Young contributed nine points in the win for Lumpkin County which, as a team, went 14-for-18 from the free throw line.
The Knights (10-15) were led by Devaris Finch, who hit for 14 points; they had no other scorers in double figures.
Johnson’s season concluded with the loss.
Gainesville boys 77, Gilmer 44
Led by George Manomano’s 18 points and Blake Sims’ 11, the Red Elephants left little doubt early as to who would be the victor in their first-round game against the Bobcats.
Gainesville (14-11) had already jumped out to a 6-0 lead after only a minute had gone by in the game and would finish the first quarter up by 11 points and add to it in the second, going into halftime with a 17-point lead.
The exclamation point on the win came with four minutes and 55 seconds left in the game when Sims took off from a hash mark and slammed a rebound home.
With the win, Gainesville moves on to face North Hall at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at West Forsyth High for a chance to go to the state playoffs.
Gilmer’s season is complete.
Chestatee boys 82, Pickens 35
The War Eagles cruised to a 47-point victory after a claiming a 60-20 halftime lead in the first round of the 7-AAA tournament Monday night at North Hall High School.
Parker Smith led Chestatee (20-6) with 20 points, drilling four 3-pointers.
Branden Jovaag added 16 points in the win, also scoring four 3-pointers, while Arthur Begtine added 13 for Chestatee, which sat most of its starters in the second half.
Pickens (2-21) shot just 7-for-16 from the free-throw line, while Chestatee was 11-for-18.
The War Eagles had 12 players record points, while the Dragons had 11 different scorers.
Chestatee travels to West Forsyth High School on Wednesday to take on No. 2 seed West Hall at 8:30 p.m.
North Hall girls 52, West Forsyth 40
North Hall scored only four first quarter points, but used a strong second half to defeat West Forsyth in the opening round of the 7-AAA tournament Monday night at North Hall.
The Lady Trojans (17-9), who made only 14 of their 26 free throws, used a 10-2 run to close out the first half down by two.
A 10-2 run late in the final quarter sealed the victory for North Hall, which was led by Letiecia Davenport with 23 points, all but two coming in the second half. Elizabeth Williams chipped in with 12 points for the Lady Trojans.
Kelsey Turchi led the Lady Wolverines (3-23) with 15 points. West Forsyth made five of its eight free throws and scored only 18 first half points. North Hall takes on No. 2 seed Pickens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at West Forsyth High School.
West Forsyth boys 56, White County 39
West Forsyth held White County’s offense at bay while cruising to a 17-point win Monday in the first round of the 7-AAA tournament at North Hall.
West Forsyth (8-18) was beaten by the Warriors earlier this season by more than 30 points. However, the Wolverines’ 26-16 halftime lead held up, thanks largely to a two-point effort by White County (11-14) in the third quarter.
Shaeem McLaren and Kris Dees each scored 13 points in the win, while Michael Moch tallied 12 points for the Wolverines.
Tyler Norman and Adrian Hamilton led the Warriors with 17 and 12 points respectively.
West Forsyth will play host to No. 1 seed Flowery Branch at 8:30 tonight. White County’s season is now complete.
Buford girls 60, Creekview 27
The Buford girls didn’t need much time to pull ahead and lock up a win, crushing Creekview in the first round of the 6-AA tournament Monday night in Buford.
Blanche Alverson led the Lady Wolves (21-5) with 18 points. Sara Dempsey and Jocelyn Stanley also contributed with 12 points each.
Buford advances to the second round of the 6-AA tournament and will face Pace Academy at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Greater Atlanta Christian.
Buford boys 64, Creekview 46
Buford continued its recent success, defeating Creekview in the first round of the 6-AA tournament Monday night in Canton.
Zac Lynn and Jakar Bridges each scored 15 points for Buford (9-16), which has won three of its last four.
Jeramie Moore added 11 points and Twoey Hosch added 10.
Andy Oliver lead the Grizzlies with 10 points.
Buford travels to the No. 1 seed Greater Atlanta Christian tonight at 5:30 p.m.