Tag Archives: Dooly County

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

All-State duo Tayne Smith & ZyTavian Hill power No. 2 Central-Talbotton in early battle of unbeatens

Contributed by Rob Grubbs   (@RCGJr226070)

No. 2 Central-Talbotton 75, Dooly County 68

TALBOTTON, Ga – There is a special feel about high school basketball in the small towns across Georgia, the intimacy of the gym, the feel of community and the sense of pride for those who played previously and return for the memories and root for the current team. A perfect example is Talbotton, Georgia where the Central-Talbotton Hawks call home. On this chilly night, the action heated up inside as two undefeated teams faced off in an early Region 4-A matchup. The No. 2 ranked Hawks (9-0) welcomed the undefeated Dooly County Bobcats (4-1) from Vienna, Georgia.  After overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit, the Bobcats fought back to tie the game at 58-58 with four minutes remaining, but the All-State duo of Tayne Smith and ZyTavian Hill took control down the stretch for the 75-68 win.

In the first quarter, the Hawks were up 6-5 early but went on a 10-2 run featuring threes from Hill and Javares Copeland for the 16-7 lead. The Hawks would push that lead to 13 at the half, with Hill and Smith both scoring three-point plays on drives to the basket with the foul. With Bobcat star Jarquavius Brown held in check in the first half, sophomore Rashad Lucas lead Dooly with six points and was strong on the boards.

You can never keep a player like Brown down for long, as he spearheaded the Bobcat comeback by scoring 13 points in the third quarter as Dooly County slowly whittled the lead away. Brown also showed his passing ability, threading the needle on a full-court pass for an easy basket after a Hawk made free throw. The Bobcats finally tied things up with 6:21 remaining in the game at 51 with a three from Bo Lawson, his second three of the fourth quarter.

With the game tied now, it felt like Central-Talbotton rose their game to a higher level. Perhaps Dooly County had expended too much energy in making the comeback, but the two times the Bobcats tied things up, the Hawks seemed to dig deeper. Once things were tied at 58, Hill got a strong offensive rebound and put-back to give Central-Talbotton a lead they would never relinquish as they closed the game on a 17-10 run, including Smith’s free throw clinic at the end to ice it.

Hawk Head Coach Fredrick Cotton said of his two stars, “They are big time athletes, they are who we want to have the ball with the game on the line. They have played together so long, it is almost like they know exactly what the other is thinking and going to do. They are fun to watch.  We have seven seniors, they all have a lot of experience playing together.”

Dooly County Head Coach Towandi King also put on a coaching clinic, he respectfully negotiated with the refs all night and coached his players back into the game when it would have been easy for them to fold on a mid-week game on the road. In the end, his team ran out of gas from the comeback effort, but they were right there till the end.

The win gives Central-Talbotton the lead in the early Region 4-A standings, but there is a lot of ball left to be played.

Rob’s Takeaways

  1. Region 4-A is going to be fun to watch, there were four undefeated teams headed into action Tuesday night, No. 2 Central-Talbotton, No. 3 Macon County, No. 10 Manchester and Dooly County. Also in the mix is Brookstone at 6-2.
  2. It was a tough road trip for Dooly County. On a school night, they left Talbotton at 9:30 for the 1:30 hour drive back to Vienna, which would put them home sometime after 11pm. Single-A schools face long trips for region contests.
  3. JaQuavius Smith let the game come to him, after being held scoreless in the first quarter, he finished with 29, highlighted by 11 in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, including 7-7 from the free throw line.
  4. ZyTavian Hill is a beast on the boards, he thinks every loose ball is his and he takes it.
  5. Hawk senior Javares Copeland is a solid inside player, perfect complement to Hill and Smith and has gotten college coaches’ attention as well.
  6. Bobcat Jarquavius Brown scored right at his season average of 26.7. He is a finalist for the Mr. Middle-Georgia basketball player of the year presented by Hypesouth Media.

Top Performers

Central-Talbotton
JaQuavius “Tayne” Smith – 29 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
ZyTavian Hill – 29 points, 14 rebounds
Javares Copeland – 9 points, 6 rebounds 3 steals

Dooly County
Jarquavius Brown – 25 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
Zeff Felton – 9 points, 15 rebounds
Rashad Lucas – 16 points, 7 rebounds