GAINESVILLE, Ga. — North Hall and East Hall — two teams that resemble nothing from last season, and probably won’t look that familiar in January — staged a typical rivalry showdown Tuesday night at Lynn Cottrell Court.
It was the season-opener for the Trojans, who rode a 30-point outburst from Gunner Spain and held off the Vikings, 60-59, in a game that was as close as the score indicated, with 19 lead changes and eight ties.
Spain’s effort did not come as a huge surprise to North Hall coach Jarvis Davenport, however, who says his senior guard is finally at full speed.
“Last year, Gunner got hurt early in the year, and he missed three games, and then when he came back, he was like 70 percent,” Davenport said. “He’s actually healthy now. Hopefully, he stays that way.
“But he’s been playing like that since summer. He had a great circuit with his AAU team. He had a great fall at the APS fall league. He’s a competitor. He’s a scorer.”
The early-season Vikings are not what was expected coming out of the fall. They were playing without star Braydon Langston, who is expected out until January, and Jamarcus Harrison, who will be enrolling early at Kennesaw State. They have eight freshmen and sophomores playing significant roles.
Only Spain and Jackson Richey played any significant minutes for North Hall last season. The Trojans had five new starters on Tuesday to open the season. And several key players are still with the football team, which is expected to make a deep playoff run.
A cold-shooting East Hall offense helped the Trojans hang on in the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 46 after East Hall’s Khalil Goss banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter.
But the Vikings (0-2) would manage just six points over the next seven minutes while North Hall built a 57-52 lead with 1:01 left following five straight points from Spain.
The Trojans led 60-56 with 25 seconds left on a free throw from Carter Causey, but East Hall got just its fourth 3-pointer of the game when Brock Gillespie drained a trey with 2.8 seconds left to cut it to 60-59. The Vikings got one more chance at the buzzer after a pair of missed Spain free throws, but could not convert on a long 3-pointer from halfcourt.
“We shot it okay at different times,” Davenport said. “I wish we had made some better decisions. But we persevered. We kept fighting, we kept believing, and they grew a little bit tonight.”
Spain and Micah Morrow for East Hall traded 3-pointers to open the game, and that set the tone for a first half that would see nine lead changes and six ties. North Hall ran out to a 9-5 lead early, but East Hall answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a basket from Gillespie off a Chasen Jones steal for an 11-9 lead.
The Vikings took a 24-21 lead into the second quarter, but the Trojans held East Hall to just 3 points over the first five minutes of the period while building a 30-27 lead. North Hall took a 34-30 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the lead changed hands eight times in a 10-possession span before Spain gave North Hall a 46-43 lead on his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Goss tied it with his shot at the buzzer, but that would be the final tie of the game.
Causey finished with 15 points for North Hall, with 11 coming in the second half to give Spain some help.
Goss had 14 points to lead East Hall. Jones had 12 points and Gillespie 10, including two 3-pointers, for the Vikings.
NORTH HALL GIRLS 70, EAST HALL 31: The Lady Trojans held the Lady Vikings to 10 points or less in every quarter in opening their season with a solid victory at home.
North Hall (1-0) opened the game with an 18-5 run and never looked back. Sophomore Camille Nix, who finished with a game-high 24 points, poured in 11 in the first quarter. The Lady Trojans would take a 32-14 lead into halftime.
North Hall used a 22-10 third quarter to blow it open.
Senior Lauren Hemmer and freshman Tallulah Ball each had 10 points for North Hall.
Junior Carlessia Jones led East Hall (0-2) with 7 points. Senior Haley Barton added 6 points for the Lady Vikings.
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