Jeff Hart

Jeremiah Crutcher scored all 16 of his points in the second half and and former Chestatee High standout Parker Smith added 14 points to help lead Tennessee State past Detroit 78-75 on Saturday night.

Dante Curry came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points, including a 3-pointer with 3:50 left that put Georgia State ahead for good, in a 63-58 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Gainesville boys basketball coach Todd Cottrell was the first to say it’s not about him. But after his Red Elephants held off West Hall 57-46 Saturday in the Region 7-AAA finals at the Chestatee gym, he had accomplished a rare feat: winning back-to-back titles with two different teams.

Gainesville girls basketball coach Manson Hill may not rank his teams, but after his current Lady Elephants’ squad held off arch-rival East Hall 46-39 Saturday night to win the Region 7-AAA title, he certainly has a special place for this team.

A funny thing happened during an expected shootout between West Hall and North Hall Friday night in the boys semifinals of the Region 7-AAA Tournament. Both defenses decided to steal center stage. West Hall held North Hall to just 20 points through three quarters and then pulled away in the fourth quarter in taking a 47-37 win at the Chestatee gym.

He might not have wanted to admit it then, but East Hall coach Joey Rider had a vision two weeks ago that his Lady Vikings would be playing for the Region 7-AAA title. Now, he doesn’t mind letting everyone know after East Hall beat Gilmer 59-46 Friday night in the semifinals of the Region 7-AAA Tournament at the Chestatee gym.

Neither East Hall coach Joe Dix nor North Hall coach Benjie Wood mentioned anything about state tournament streaks or records before the two teams’ met Thursday night in the second round of the Region 7-AAA tournament at the North Hall gym. For both coaches, the focus was on one game for a shot at the 2009 Class AAA state playoffs.

Winning the Lanierland Tournament for the first time was nice. So was winning a Thanksgiving tournament at East Jackson to open the season. But for West Hall boys basketball coach Warren Sellers and the Spartans, there was really only one goal all season: making the state tournament.

Despite two lopsided wins over Athens Academy during the regular season, the Lakeview Academy girls basketball had to rally from six points down in the fourth quarter before eventually taking a 38-34 win at the Lakeview gym to move into the Class A state tournament for the sixth consecutive season.

Devaris Finch poured in 25 points to lead Johnson to an 80-74 upset win over Creekview in the first round of the Region 7-AAA boys basketball tournament at the Lumpkin County gym.