Jeff Hart

North Hall boys basketball coach Benjie Wood has been preaching defense to his young squad all season. And there is no doubt that they are listening...

As hot as the Chestatee girls basketball team is right now, it may not be hot enough. The Lady War Eagles, winners of 11 of their last 13 games after Tuesday’s 41-33 win over North Hall, realize there is virtually no margin for error if they have any chance of winning the Region 7A-AAA subregion.

After spending four days preparing for the 2009 SpeedFest at Lanier National Speedway, Kyle Busch did not leave empty-handed Sunday. The Sprint Cup regular assumed the lead on Lap 104 and never looked back in winning the 200-lap CRA Super Series event. In the first part of SpeedFest, Gainesville’s Greg Simpson survived a wild finish to win the 100-lap GAS Series race.

After nearly two decades of dominating Hall County basketball, the East Hall boys basketball team is seeing what it’s like to live on the other side of the fence this season. The Vikings lost for an unprecedented fifth straight time Saturday night falling 63-56 to North Hall at the North Hall gym.

East Hall used an 18-2 first quarter to take control and then cruised to a 61-33 win over North Hall Saturday night at the North Hall gym in girls basketball action.

Chestatee coach Russ Triaga needed a way to rest three starters with four fouls each. Lumpkin County coach Bobby Smith wanted to give his team one shot at stealing a win on the road in a key Region 7A-AAA game for both teams. The solution: a five overtime game where a grand total of just 15 points combined were scored before the Indians pulled out a thrilling 71-70 win at the Chestatee gym.

Shooting the ball was a problem early in the season for the Chestatee girls basketball team. Not any more. For the second straight game the Lady War Eagles set a school record for 3-pointers in a game as they hit 10 3-pointers in a 66-57 Region 7A-AAA win over Lumpkin County Friday night at the Chestatee gym.

The Chestatee boys basketball team won its fourth straight subregion game Tuesday night dispatching White County 61-48 in one of its best performances of the season.

Chestatee hit a school-record nine 3-pointers and used a smothering defense after the first quarter to take a dominating 65-38 win over White County Tuesday in Region 7A-AAA action at the Chestatee gym.

Behind a dominating rebounding performance Gainesville went on a 16-0 second half run to take the lead and then held on in the final two minutes at the free throw line for a 75-69 win over East Hall Saturday night at the Gainesville gym.