Basketball: Lady Falcons, GHS boys take impressive 8-AAAAA wins <b> (VIDEO) </b>

FLOWERY BRANCH -- After two tough losses to Gainesville already on the season, Flowery Branch girls coach Hazel Hall felt a change of strategy was in order Tuesday in the two teams' critical Region 8A-AAAAA matchup.<br /> <br /> "They like to slow things down so we just tried to speed it up some," Hall said.<br /> <br /> It worked -- and then some.<br /> <br /> The Lady Falcons held Gainesville to just four field goals over the final 28 minutes and used a pair of big runs to run away with a 59-36 victory at the Falcons Nest.<br /> <br /> The win for Flowery Branch (18-3, 10-1 Region 8A-AAAAA) all but clinched the top subregion seed for the Lady Falcons in next month's Region 8-AAAAA tournament.<br /> <br /> "Those first two games (with Gainesville) were kind of ugly so it was good to see us execute better," Hall said. "But this was huge for us because we haven't played in this gym in almost a month and now we can hopefully finish strong and get the No. 1 seed.<br /> <br /> "We still have two games left but now we have a two-game lead and we need to win those to make sure. But I'm really proud of how we came in focused and ready to play."<br /> <br /> The two teams traded blows early with four lead changes and two ties in the first four minutes. Gainesville took the initial lead on a Taylor Hawks basket. The Lady Falcons answered with a Kierra Knights basket to tie the game.<br /> <br /> Kaysey Smith reclaimed the lead for the Lady Red Elephants and then Lexie Sengkhammee answered with a 3-pointer for the Lady Falcons for a 5-4 lead. Gainesville's Breana Fair scored twice to give the Lady Red Elephants an 8-5 lead with 4:04 left in the first quarter.<br /> <br /> Gainesville would not record another field goal for 9:30 and the Lady Falcons took advantage. Flowery Branch closed out the first quarter with a 14-3 run for a 19-11 lead and then extended it to 25-13 midway through the second after a pair of Breanna Locke baskets.<br /> <br /> Kayla Kelly snapped Gainesville's field goal drought with a basket with 2:30 left in the half and Smith trimmed the Flowery Branch lead to 29-23 with 1:26 left. But Locke answered with a basket and Queen Scott hit two free throws with 41 seconds left in the half for a 33-23 halftime lead for the Lady Falcons.<br /> <br /> Flowery Branch opened the second half with an 8-2 run for a 41-25 lead and Gainesville (17-7, 8-3) never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.<br /> <br /> "I thought we played really good defense most of the game," Hall said. "We didn't do that much different other than just to try to get them out of the half-court game they are so good at. But we moved the ball well and we have a lot of girls that can score and when we get that kind of balance we're a tough team to defend."<br /> <br /> It was an offensive explosion for both teams after the first two games finished in the low 40s. Gainesville, however, was 0-for-10 on 3-pointers and had 12 turnovers while Flowery Branch was 2-for-6 with 10 turnovers in the game.<br /> <br /> Knight finished with 13 points to lead Flowery Branch. Julianne Sutton and Locke each had 11 points and Maddie Hetzel added eight points for the Lady Falcons.<br /> <br /> Hawks had a game-high 16 points for Gainesville but second-leading scorer Shikiya Brown fouled out without scoring a point. Fair added seven points for the Lady Red Elephants.<br /> <br /> The win was the fourth straight for Flowery Branch and snapped Gainesville's five-game region win streak in the process. The Lady Falcons, who are a perfect 7-0 at home this season, will play host to Winder-Barrow on Friday in a Region 8-AAAAA battle. Gainesville next will travel to East Hall in a non-region showdown with its arch-rivals.<br /> <br /> <b>Gainesville boys 78<br /> Flowery Branch 55</b><br /> <br /> Bailey Minor scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter and helped blow the game open for Gainesville in a key Region 8A-AAAAA win on the road.<br /> <br /> The Red Elephants (20-2, 10-1 Region 8A-AAAAA) led just 55-45 after the Falcons had trimmed a 14-point lead to start the period. The freshman sharp-shooter caught fire scoring on four consecutive possessions, including hitting two straight 3-pointers, to give Gainesville a 66-45 lead.<br /> <br /> Flowery Branch (11-11, 4-7) did not get closer than 18 the rest of the way.<br /> <br /> The game was tight early as both teams traded the lead three times. Gainesville used a 10-2 run to erase an early Flowery Branch lead but the Falcons answered with a 9-2 run to close out the quarter for a 14-14 tie.<br /> <br /> Gainesville opened the second quarter with a pair of baskets and Flowery Branch pulled within 18-17 on a Chris Garcia 3-pointer. The Red Elephants then got going using a 16-4 run, powered by the defense forcing five Flowery Branch turnovers, for a 34-21 lead late in the period.<br /> <br /> Gainesville eventually would take a 39-27 lead into the halftime. <br /> <br /> Gainesville opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run for a 46-29 lead but the Falcons rallied to within 10 points twice before the Red Elephants pushed their lead to 53-42 heading into the fourth quarter.<br /> <br /> D'Marcus Simonds paced Gainesville with 18 points. Minor finished with 16, including three 3-pointers. The Red Elephants had 11 different players score.<br /> <br /> Taylor Bourdage led Flowery Branch with a game-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers.