DAWSONVILLE – Ahmad Kamara didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he got the last shot.
Kamara took the inbounds pass with 3 seconds to go from Campbell Reed and let it go from the baseline. When the final sounded, the shot fell through the net to give Dawson County (19-4, 8-2) a 58-56 Region 7-3A win over North Hall (10-14, 5-6) Tuesday night.
Kamara ended the night with 9 points and four rebounds.
“North Hall plays hard and they played hard tonight,” Dawson coach Chad Pittman said. “They’re not a team to sleep on. They are a good team. But, as I said, the basketball season is a marathon, not a sprint and you’ve just got to grind it out and we did tonight.”
Luke Chism turned in his 13th double-double performance with 18 points and 11 boards. Jasper Gibson led the Tigers with 25 points.
JT Fair led the Trojans with 19 points and Luke Gunter had 15.
The game seemed to be getting out of control for the Trojans after taking a 4-2 early lead. Chism and Gibson quickly gave the Tigers the lead and pushed it up to 29-10.
The Trojans didn’t back down, behind the hand of JT Fair. North Hall went on a 17-0 run late in the second quarter and early third quarter inching closer 29-28.
Chism broke the run with a bucket late in the third quarter.
North Hall kept it close, however, and eventually took the lead late in the fourth quarter when Luke Volle nailed back-to-back 3-pointers. The points gave the Trojans a 56-54 lead.
On the next trip down the floor, North Hall missed a shot, Dawson grabbed the rebound and jogged into the frontcourt to run the clock down for the final shot. After a missed basket and rebound by the Tigers, North Hall fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining. The foul gave the Tigers the ball underneath their own basket, setting up the Reed inbounds to Kamara for the game-winning shot.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Pittman said. “In a 25-game season, you have to survive. We survived tonight.”
The Tigers will travel to Lumpkin County Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m. North Hall is off Friday but will host Lumpkin County Jan. 29.
GAINESVILLE 97
DACULA 81
Gainesville had three players scored 20 points or more in a Region 8-6A win over Dacula Tuesday night on the road.
Rafael Rubel scored 27 points and was 9-for-9 from the foul line to pace Big Red. Maurice Hector scored 21 and Brent Kelly scored 20 in the win.
Gainesville has won the last 8-of-9 games.
The Red Elephants took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Falcons 20-11 and taking a 41-34 lead at the half.
Gainesville outshot Dacula 56-46 in the second half.
Datavian Buffington scored 9, Walt Dixon had 8, Julio Santana hit for 6 and Rassie Littlejohn chipped in 2.
Gainesville (14-8, 6-1) will host Apalachee Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
CHEROKEE BLUFF 63
FANNIN COUNTY 51
Griffin Neville scored 17 points to lead Cherokee Bluff past Fannin County Tuesday night at home.
The Bears outscored Fannin County 35-22 in the first half and 30-28 in the second half to pick up the Region 7-3A win.
Corey Thomas scored 12 points, Bosko Norman had 10, Jason Evertt had 8 and Rolando Razo had 6 points.
Cherokee Bluff (14-8, 5-4) will travel to GAC Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
BANKS COUNTY 48
MONTICELLO 44
Banks County held off a couple runs by Monticello to pick up the Region 8-2A win Tuesday night on the road.
Wes Ledford led the Leopards with 13 points. Carl Cleveland added 11 points and Pierce Martin had 9.
Banks trailed 14-13 after the first quarter but took the lead 24-23 by the half. Banks outscored Monticello 24-21 in the second half.
Clay Gosnell scored 5 points, Noah Rylee and Dakota Orr had 4 and Emmett Mabry finished with 2 points.
Banks (13-8, 8-2) will host Elbert County Friday. Tip is 8:30 p.m.
GAC 72
LUMPKIN COUNTY 43
Jake Granger scored 12 points in a loss to Region 7-3A leader Greater Atlanta Christian Tuesday night on the road.
The Spartans outscored GAC 45-18 in the first half and 27-25 in the second.
Jacob Cumbie scored 7 points, Peyton Polk and Matt Seabolt had 6 each, Kyle Trammell and Gus Faulkner had 4 each and Nathan Linn and Jacob Emmett had 2 each.
Lumpkin (6-16, 2-8) will host Dawson County Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
HART COUNTY 57
EAST JACKSON 47
Tay Howard scored 18 points and Makayl Rakestraw had 13 in a loss to Hart County Tuesday night.
East Jackson (8-14, 2-8) will travel to Jefferson Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
WEST HALL 64
CHESTATEE 51
West Hall knocked off Chestatee in a Region 7-4A battle Tuesday night at home.
Noah Edmondson scored 25 points to lead the Spartans. Sawyer Passmore had 13, and Devon Williams chipped in 11 points.
The Spartans first-half performance lifted them over Chestatee. They outscored the War Eagles 43-21 in the first and played to a 30-30 mark in the final two quarters.
Wit the win, West Hall takes control of the No. 4 spot in the region.
West Hall (7-14, 5-5) will host Denmark Friday. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
Chestatee (13-9, 4-6) hosts White County Friday. Tip is 8:30 p.m.
LANIER CHRISTIAN 85
PRAISE ACADEMY 59
LCA had four players hit the double-digit scoring mark in a region win over Praise Academy Tuesday night on the road.
Tommy Wandrum scored 21 points and Asher Weiner had 20 to lead the Lightning. Justin Wade and Alec Hughes tossed in 10 points each.
LCA pulled ahead of Praise 46-24 by halftime and extended its lead to 67-39 by the end of three quarters. In the fourth, Praise kept it close, 20-17.
Trevin Last scored 8 points for LCA, Luke Winkler and Samuel Collins had 5 each, Bo Southers scored 3, Joseph Edwards had 2 and Thomas Avery finished with 1.
LCA (11-5, 4-2) will host Oakwood Christian Academy Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
