North Hall girls outlast Madison County to claim a playoff spot
GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA – It took five and a half minutes for the North Hall Girls Basketball team to get on the scoreboard in Tuesday’s elimination game against Madison County.
However once they finally started scoring, the Trojans never looked back, clinching a berth in the state tournament with a 48-33 win.
North Hall got behind early with some cold shooting to start the game, going down 6-0 early. Despite the rough start, head coach Eric Herrick didn’t lose confidence in his team’s ability to make shots.
“Shots just weren’t falling,” Herrick said. “We’re pretty confident in our shooters. It’s a numbers game, so as long as we’re shooting good, open shots, eventually we’re going to hit some. We just went through a very dry spell there early, but we just trust that you’re going to make some shots and shoot it with confidence.”
The North Hall defense smothered Madison County, particularly in the second quarter where the Red Raiders were held without a basket for the entire quarter. The Trojans allowed only 33 points for the game.
Photo by Jake Cantrell
Once the first shot went down, a three from senior standout Amelia Shoemaker, the Trojans got hot and within a minute had tied the game. Athena Vachtsevanos scored seven in the first quarter to get North Hall started, including a free throw that gave the Trojans the lead with seconds remaining in the quarter.
North Hall never trailed in the game again.
“We just kept shooting and our defense really buckled down. We got a couple transition baskets and tried to play a little faster,” Herrick said. “If they’re taking good quality shots and they’re not going in, we can live with it but sooner or later we’re going to make some….Athena really got us going in the second quarter. She hit back-to-back threes and kind of got us going. She had seven of our first 10, so Athena had a good game tonight.”
Athena Vachtsevanos: North Hall's Athena Vachtsevanos made three clutch three-pointers in a 13-point effort on Tuesday, scoring seven of the team's first 11 points.
Photo by Jake Cantrell
The four Vachtsevanos free throws that ended the first quarter were the start of 14 unanswered points that carried all the way until the last score of the quarter, a single free throw made by Madison County. North Hall didn’t allow a single field goal in the second quarter, finishing a 21-5 run in the final 11 minutes of the half to put the Trojans up 21-11.
The game turned foul-heavy in the second half, with Herrick’s team making the adjustments and getting to the free throw line for 18 shots in the final two quarters.
“You want to try and dribble penetrate and be smart and strong with the ball and get to the free throw line because we’re a good free throw shooting team,” he said.
Madison clawed back to within five points during what turned out to be the highest-scoring portion of the game, however North Hall stretched it back out to an eight-point lead by the end of the third quarter. The Trojans finished off Madison County with healthy doses of Genesis Satterfield in the paint, who scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. Shoemaker finished with 10.
Senior Amelia Shoemaker commands the attention of the defense, drawing the double team before dishing the ball to an open teammate. Shoemaker finished the game with 10 points of her own while setting up her teammates throughout.
Photo by Jake Cantrell
“Shoemaker and Saterfield were great all night, working the high-low action,” Herrick said. “Shoemaker is very crafty and a great passer so putting her in the high post and letting her kind of be a facilitator for us really helps our team.”
With the win, North Hall punches its ticket to the state tournament and will continue in the Region 8-AAAA tournament with hopes of winning it all and claiming a top seed for state.
Herrick feels his team has already proven more than many state qualifiers, facing an unfair advantage due to the number of teams in North Hall’s region.
“I think an 11-team region is crazy,” he said. “When you look at other regions with six teams and four teams, we’re sending seven teams home. We’re sending quality teams home that don’t have a chance at a state tournament. I don’t agree with an 11-team region. As competitive as our games have been, of course it’s going to benefit us in the long run and especially later on as we get in these close games. But an 11-team region? Come on.”
But now, the Trojans are one of the region’s final four and Herrick feels his team is peaking at the right time.
“We’ve lost one game in the last month so I would say we’re playing as good as we possibly can with the people we have on the court,” he said. “Of course with Kristina [Peach] and Sarah [Davidson] we’re better, but you have to play with the hand that you’re dealt. Our kids have all stepped up and made huge contributions when we needed them to.”
Rylee Thompson: North Hall senior Rylee Thompson drives toward the basket to penetrate the defense inside, causing problems for Madison County. Thompson had seven points for the game, all coming in the third quarter, to help push North Hall further ahead.
Photo by Jake Cantrell
North Hall will face East Forsyth in the Region 8-AAAA Semifinals as East Forsyth also clinched a state tournament berth as the Broncos handled their business in dominant fashion over North Oconee in the first game of Tuesday’s double header, 53-38.
East Forsyth’s Ella Holbrook led the way, scoring seven of the team’s first 10 points en route to a 21-point performance, despite not scoring at all in the fourth quarter. The Broncos’ second quarter really made the difference. East Forsyth took its lead from one point to nine points in the second quarter, behind six-point quarters from Holbrook and Alya Heard. From there, a big 19-point third quarter that stretched the lead to 17 and effectively put it out of reach.
