GAC ( 10-9, 6-1 ) vs. NORTH HALL ( 14-6, 6-2 )
One thing is for sure when it comes to this 7AAA matchup tonight in Murrayville, both teams have been through the fire! Teams like Gainesville, Flowery Branch, Collins Hill, & Lakeview Academy stand out when looking at the non-region schedules of the Lady Spartans & the Lady Trojans. Dawson County has also been a tough test for each program inside of 7AAA. First place is on the line in the region. Undoubtedly Coach House and Coach Grooms were thinking of matchups like this one when scheduling such stiff competition early in the season. To say that this is a big game is an understatement. GAC looks to tighten their grip on a 1 seed in the girls 7AAA region tournament, while North Hall is trying to avenge a 7 point road loss to the Lady Spartans from earlier in the year and jump into a tie for first place.
GAC played in two absolute killer Holiday tournaments and suffered 3 losses in a 4 game span, but since the beginning of the New Year the Lady Spartans have grown from those tough tournament experiences and have won 3 out of 4. Their most recent win came at the hands of Dawson County, avenging the only blemish to their 7AAA record this season. Against the last 3 region opponents the Lady Spartans have gotten a spark on the offensive end from Freshmen Kaleigh Addie. The GAC point guard has shot over 50 percent from the field in those 3 contests and has lead the team in scoring twice. Even as a Freshmen, Addie plays with tremendous poise and already has several college offers. Another Freshmen Jaci Bolden has also stepped up and shown some toughness and scoring ability of late, epecially against powerhouse Collins Hill and region opponent East Hall. Ava Irvin and Kennedi Williams will look to provide upperclassemen leadership in this big game versus the Lady Trojans. Irvin is tenacious on defense and creates a lot of extra possessions for her team by way of steals. Williams does a good job of attacking the down the lane looking to finish, but is more than willing to dish it out to open shooters when the help defense comes. I believe GAC will try to push the tempo early in this game and force North Hall to try and get out and run with them.
North Hall was on an absolute tear from November 30th to January 8th, winning 11 out of 13 in that span and the only two losses in that period were to GAC on the road and Flowery Branch in the Lanierland Championship game. However, the Lady Trojans suffered two consecutive upset losses to East Hall and Chestatee last week and found themselves looking to get back on track heading into the home stretch of region play. The process of correcting things began with a convincing road win over the Lady Rebels of Fannin County on Tuesday, but Coach House, and her team, knows that this will be an entire different level of opponent when the Lady Spartans come to Lynn Cottrell Court on Friday night. In order to defeat GAC, North Hall will need the double-double machine that is Ansleigh Ferguson to keep rolling. The Senior has been a force on the boards and also showed her ability to score the basketball with a monster 31 point performance against Chestatee. Of course Grace Hollifield has been a steady performer for the Lady Trojans all year, scoring and distributing the basketball effectively. The Junior core of Coach House's squad (Gillespie, Swanson, Hollifield, and Smallwood) will need to take care of the ball and join Ferguson in cleaning up on rebounds. The Lady Spartans are too good to give second chance opportunities to. Out of the Lady Trojans' 14 victories this year, only twice have they allowed the opposing team to score more than 60 points. A strong defensive effort will be key in this one and offensively North Hall must be efficient in the half court.
PREDICTION
It's Frat Night for the North Hall Bricksquad. I believe the home atmosphere for the Lady Trojans will make a difference. GAC's only region loss was on the road to a quality opponent at Dawson County. I believe the junior and senior laden North Hall squad is able to control the pace of this game and hit open shots from the perimeter early. Coach House's team will be excited to be playing at home after 3 straight on the road and I believe they are able to hold GAC's talented Freshmen in check.
Lady Trojans win on Frat Night at North Hall and tie the Lady Spartans for first place in 7AAA. Look for Ferguson to have another big game and yet another double-double.
NORTH HALL 64 - GAC 59
Comments