A defensive adjustment at halftime opened the door for a third quarter East Hall run as the Lady Vikings dropped Pope 42-38 on Saturday in the championship game of the Pope High School tournament.

East Hall, the top-ranked team in Class AAA, trailed 24-16 after two quarters, but switched defenses to open the third. The change led to some easy transition buckets, and ultimately a win, according to coach Joey Rider, and helped the Lady Vikings limit Pope’s Allsion Danner to two points in the second half. She finished with 11 to lead the Lady Greyhounds (2-1).

Sonata Chester led East Hall with 11 points. Tournament MVP Sada Wheeler, a South Carolina recruit, added 10, and All-Tournament selection Tierra Benton finished with nine.

The Lady Vikings (3-0) open their Region 7-AAA season Tuesday at home against West Forsyth.

Marist 59, Gainesville 45

The Lady Red Elephants fell Saturday to the No. 1 team in Class AAAA in the finals of the South Forsyth Turkey Shootout.

Gainesville held a four-point advantage at halftime, but Marist pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Red Elephants 16-5 down the stretch.

Kiana Glasper led Gainesville (2-1) with 16 points and seven assists, Hailey Solomon added eight points, and Jaymee Carnes scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Whitney Hogan (19 points) and Fredrica Miller (18 points) powered Marist (3-0).

Gainesville returns to action with its Region 7-AAA opener on Tuesday at White County.

West Hall 45, Alpharetta 41 OT

Led by Kim Smigelsky’s 19-point effort, the Lady Spartans picked up their first win of the season, dropping Alpharetta (0-3) in overtime Saturday at the South Forsyth Turkey Shootout in Cumming.

Jayla Moon added 10 points for the Lady Spartans (1-2), who converted 22 of their 33 chances at the free throw line.

West Hall will play host to Lumpkin County at 6 p.m. Tuesday in each teams’ Region 7-AAA opener.

Centennial 64, Chestatee 49

Megan Wilbanks led the Lady War Eagles with 13 points in a losing effort.

Kasey Smith added 10 and Erika Lackey scored eight points for Chestatee (1-2).

The Lady War Eagles will play host to Flowery Branch at 6 p.m. Tuesday to open Region 7-AAA play for both teams.

Jefferson 81, Habersham Central 42

The Lady Dragons, ranked No. 9 in Class A, opened their season with a blowout of the Class AAAA Lady Raiders on Saturday in the first round of the Tabo’s Tip-Off Tournament in Jefferson.

Junior MiMi DuBose led Jefferson — which led 19-4 at the end of the first quarter — with 23 points. Brittany Crews and Kayla Edwards each added 13 points for the Lady Dragons, who had 11 different players score.

Senior center Samantha Shouppe led Habersham Central (0-1) with 11 points.

Jefferson returns to action Wednesday, taking on Franklin County (No. 9 in Class AAA) in Jefferson.

BOYS

West Hall 53, Roswell 50

After trailing the entire game, West Hall’s boys grabbed the lead over Roswell with a minute remaining and held on to defeat the Class AAAAA team Saturday in the third-place game of the South Forsyth Turkey Shootout in Cumming.

West Hall’s Ricky Vital and Derek Weatherly led all scorers with 14 points each, but Terrell Penland’s defensive effort was just as big of a factor for the Spartans (2-1).

Penland limited Roswell’s leading scorer Andrew Gleason to 11 points with "excellent defense," according to Spartans coach Warren Sellers.

Kavon Williams added 10 points for West Hall, while Doug Evans led Roswell (1-2) with 12.

The Spartans will open their Region 7-AAA season at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they play host to Lumpkin County.

Marist 53, Gainesville 44

The Red Elephants couldn’t hold off Marist (2-1) after taking a one-point lead into halftime Saturday in the South Forsyth Turkey Shootout in Cumming.

Allan Dockery and Martin Estes led Gainesville (1-2) with 12 points each, while Gerald Ford scored five points and led the team with eight rebounds.