GoRedSports.com
GAINESVILLE — The Gainesville Leopards finished the first half of district play undefeated after easily defeating the Sanger Indians 47-27 Friday night.
Gainesville (12-6 overall, 4-0 district) dominated from the beginning, racing out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to early 3-pointers from Demetrius Franklin, David Moore and Jonathan Mendez.
The Leopards then scored the first nine points of the second quarter to push their lead to 20-2. De’Quan Wilford, Chance Sikes and Moore all had field goals, while Mendez hit another three for the Leopards.
Sanger (13-14, 2-2) went more than 10 minutes without a point as the Leopards built their 18-point lead.
The Indians did score back-to-back buckets in the final two minutes, but still trailed 22-6 at halftime.
Sanger scored the first four points of the third period as Gainesville went five minutes without a point. Franklin finally got the Leopards on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws that made it 24-10. Those would be the only points the Leopards would score in the period, even missing a layup in the final second of the quarter.
Gainesville finally got their offense going in the fourth period thanks to 13 points from Denzel Johnson, who finished with 18 points in the game.
Sanger got as close as 11 (26-15) early in the final quarter after a 3-pointer from Jake Stastny, but Johnson answered with the first of his three 3-pointers in the quarter and the Leopards cruised from there. They led by as many as 25 before finishing with the 20-point win.
In addition to Johnson’s 18 points, Moore added 10, Mendez had 8, Franklin scored 5, Wilford had 3 and Sikes added 2.
