Behind Joel Ellis’ 20 points, Jackson County (5-3, 2-0) stunned No. 4 East Jackson (3-4, 0-2) on Friday night, 67-63. Ben Munro of The Jackson Herald was in attendance to cover the game. Please follow him at @BHMunro1 on Twitter and click on the link below for full details of the upset.
Photos of @JCCHSBball vs. East Jackson @MaliqueWade @joelellis11 @preston14g @jcpantherath pic.twitter.com/8PqUb3mGrq
— Ben Munro (@BHMunro1) December 12, 2015
Defending 3A state champion, No. 2 Jenkins High School, earned head coach Bakari Bryant his 100th career win on Friday Night, 70-44 over Toombs County. Savannah Now’s Travis Jaudon was in attendance and wraps up an emotional night. Click the link below for the full story and please follow @Jaudonsports on Twitter for some of Savannah’s best high school sports coverage in town.
Jenkins (2-1, 1-0) getting set to host Toombs County (1-6, 1-1) in a region 1-AAA crossover game. pic.twitter.com/V3LypmgIh9
— Travis Jaudon (@JaudonSports) December 12, 2015
No.5 @GradyBasketball looking to make a major statement tonight on the road at No.1 Lithonia pic.twitter.com/PLfJyE3PJx
— Kyle Sandy (@KyleSandy355) December 12, 2015
Another stiff test vs. a ranked opponent, another win for the No. 5 Grady Knights. Coach Brian Weeden’s team made the trip to No. 1 Lithonia for a crucial Region 6-AAAA showdown between the top two teams in the standings.
The Bulldogs, with the size advantage inside between Tyleen Patterson and Jacara Cross, took a 15-11 lead into the second quarter behind seven first quarter points from Patterson, who finished tied for a team-high with 15 points. Rodney Chatman and Tyheem Freeman were able to cut inside and find the big man who finished with ease with the smaller Grady players surrounding him.
Then something happened in the second quarter. That something was Christian Bryant. The switch turned on and the Knights led by Bryant began attacking the rim fearlessly. Bryant scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter and sank 8-of-10 free throws in the period. He finished 10-of-15 from the line and caused problems all game long for the Bulldogs.
Needless to say, for No.5 @GradyBasketball to win, Avi Toomer (Bucknell), Christian Bryant and DJ Brittian will all need big games outside.
— Kyle Sandy (@KyleSandy355) December 12, 2015
Grady entered the half up 30-28 and kept the pressure on, this time behind Bucknell-commit Avi Toomer’s six points in the third. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block after scoring seven points in the first half. Chatham picked up his third foul with under five minutes to play and went to the bench with the Bulldogs trailing 37-32. Grady surged ahead on a mini 8-4 run to take a 45-36 lead into the fourth after Lithonia squandered a chance at a last second bucket. After a mad scramble, Patterson scooped the ball up with three seconds left and had a two-on-one fast break. Instead of dumping the ball off, he tried to go over his defender for an and-one, but instead was whistled for his fourth foul on a charge as the buzzer sounded.
To open the fourth quarter, Grady put the game away with an 8-0 run that gave the Knights their biggest lead of the game, 53-36 with five minutes remaining. Grady began to take some time off the clock by holding the ball and being patient on offense which prompted Coach Wallace Corker to extend his Bulldog defense.
4Q; 2:22
No.5 @GradyBasketball 57
No.1 Lithonia 44Sams finds Freeman pic.twitter.com/PfIm0j10vh
— Kyle Sandy (@KyleSandy355) December 12, 2015
The game was seemingly out of hand before the Bulldogs showed some bite. Behind a 12-4 run Lithonia clawed the game back within single digits at 57-48 with 1:28 left to play. Bryant missed a pair of free throws after being fouled and allowed Lithonia a chance to crawl even closer, but Toomer had other ideas in mind.
The senior came away with a huge steal and tossed the ball up ahead to Tykwaan Bryant who slammed it home to make it an 11-point game with 1:10 left and in the process, slammed the door shut on Lithonia.
Lithonia had chances to come back, but missed free throws haunted them. At one point they missed five consecutive foul shots. They finished 15-of-28 at the line which proved costly in the 10-point loss.
My Take: Grady has to be taken seriously as a dangerous threat to making a deep run in the state tournament. There is no true front runner aside from No. 2 Jonesboro, who is the two-time defending state champion, but the Cardinals have lost a lot of championship pieces. Grady gets after it with their lightning quick guard play. They like to play fast on offense when they want, streaking to the basket, or they can slow things up and make you get out and extend your defense, leaving open holes for the ball handler to slice into. When I opened with Grady in my top ten to begin the season after a 14-15 season a year ago, it may have been met with skepticism. I knew they would have good guard play with the addition of DJ Brittian from Miller Grove, but I had no idea that Christian Bryant would assert himself into the picture. Bryant flew under the radar as a transfer from Bowie High School in Maryland, but he no longer is a secret. He’s tenacious with the ball and loves to draw fouls on the perimeter. He is the perfect complement alongside Avi Toomer and Brittian and has taken the load off of Toomer’s shoulders more so than anyone could have expected.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the play of an unsung hero: Kemari Averett. The 6-foot-7 post player is more known for his skills on the gridiron as a tight end and defensive end, but his size came in handy tonight. He chipped in seven points and four rebounds off the bench and gave the Knights a spark inside.
To sum things up in how Grady won, they just made Lithonia look slow. Tyleen Patterson, Tyheem Freeman and Jacara Cross all had nice games, but none of them stood out and took the game over. Cross looked like he was able to score at-will inside, Patterson at times too, but the Bulldogs were unable to feed them the ball consistently. Rodney Chatman had a very quiet night scoring the ball with just three points, but rebounded and passed the ball extremely well especially in the first half. For some reason I felt like Cross wasn’t 100% into it tonight. Maybe 95%, but not the extra five. He missed a big dunk and picked up a silly third foul early in the game at half court. He does have the skill set to dominate games however when he is fed constantly. He came away with three blocks as well, I just would have loved to see him get more touches inside and exploit Grady’s size.
Top Performers
Grady
Christian Bryant – 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Avi Toomer – 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
DJ Brittian – 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals
Kemari Averett – 7 points, 4 rebounds
Tykwaan Bryant – 6 points, 3 rebounds
Lithonia
Tyleen Patterson – 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Tyheem Freeman – 15 points, 3 assists, 2 steals
Jacara Cross – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 blocks
Rodney Chatman – 3 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
No. 1 Laney was on the ropes again, with nearly no hope of coming back, trailing 43-23 after an 18-0 run to the defending state runner-up No. 3 Morgan County, the same team that knocked off the Wildcats a year ago in the state semifinals. Possibly the grittiest backcourt in the state, College of Charleston signee Zep Jasper and Charleston Southern signee Christian Keeling, led the Cardiac Cats with 29 and 22 points respectively. Check out Chad Cook’s AugBBall for full analysis of the game.
No. 6 GAC 75, No. 5 Holy Innocents’ 67 OT
The power struggle for control of Region 6-AA officially began Thursday night as No. 6 GAC (4-3) found a way to knock off host No. 5 Holy Innocents’ (3-2) in overtime, 75-67. The Spartans entered the game on a two-game losing streak, but more importantly, without leading scorer, junior point guard Brian Coffey Jr. and 6-foot-8 center, Charlie O’Briant. With two big pieces out, Garrett Covington and Jacob Hoffman were expected to shoulder the load, but it was a level-headed freshman that made possibly the biggest impact of the game.
To open up the night, both teams traded baskets with Hoffman knocking down a three. The senior would roll an ankle however, soon after and would gingerly walk off with the game tied at 7. While on the bench, Cole Smith of Holy Innocents’ caught fire. He scored nine of the Golden Bears’ 13 points in the first quarter and would score 19 of his game-high 29 points in the first half.
Hoffman returned to action later in the first quarter and finished with eight points on the day. The Spartans trailed 13-11 at the end of one. With Holy Innocents’ committing six first quarter fouls, the Spartans seemed destined to live at the line in quarter two, but the Golden Bears didn’t pick up foul number seven until under two minutes to play in the half. GAC pushed ahead 24-19, but Holy Innocents’ used a 14-4 run capped by a Jules Erving putback dunk and a layup to enter the half leading 33-28.
With Coffey sidelined and Hoffman gimpy, someone needed to step up for the Spartans. That someone was freshman point guard Hunter McIntosh. The cool youngster scored half of GAC’s points in the first half with 14 and finished with a team-high 27.
Smith bombed his fifth three-pointer of the night with 46.3 seconds left in the third quarter to extend Holy Innocents’ lead to 48-41, and would take a six-point 50-44 lead into the final period of play…or so we thought.
The Spartans continued to chip away and stay within striking distance while the Golden Bears tried to push ahead with a student section dressed in tacky Christmas sweaters roaring them on. Coach David Eaton implemented a press at the 7:17 mark of the fourth quarter, trailing by four. While GAC was able to disrupt the Bears offense somewhat, Brent Duncan started to go to work inside. The high-flying big man scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to try and stave off the Spartan charge, but it was not enough.
As GAC continued to inch closer and closer, the play on the court got wilder and wilder with more and more whistles. Just under the three minute mark, the craziness which got the Spartans officially back in the game and over the hump occurred. Big man Chris Hinton, all 6-foot-5, 240 pounds of him, drew an and-one bucket, but missed the free throw. His miss was kept alive by Covington, resulting in the ball bouncing back to Hinton who laid it in to make it a four-point possession and draw the Spartans within one at 60-59.
At the 2:05 mark, Duncan hit Harrison Cobb for a jumper to extend the lead to 62-59.
Covington would answer with a steal and a layup making it a one-point game again with 1:36 remaining. Jules Erving was fouled and sank two free throws to go up 64-61 with 48.5 seconds left in regulation.
Anthony Carter, who ended up with five points, eight rebounds, two assists and four steals, was fouled with 22.2 seconds left for GAC. Earlier, he had missed a pair of foul shots at the 3:26 mark trailing 58-55. Carter atoned for his misses. He sank his first free throw and missed his second, but for the second time in the fourth quarter, Garrett Covington crashed the offensive glass and batted the ball off the backboard. The ball landed in Carter’s hands, who was following his shot, and he was able to lay it in and tie the game with around 15 seconds to play.
Ibrahim Shabazz had a final look from the top of the key as the clock expired coming out of a timeout seen here, but the shot went awry. We were heading to overtime.
We have OVERTIME@gacsREDZONE 64@BasketballBears 64 pic.twitter.com/gz8v5GZBIm
— Kyle Sandy (@KyleSandy355) December 4, 2015
In overtime, it was all Spartans. Covington, who finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, drove the lane and kicked out a pass over his head that looked wild. That wild pass was right on the mark hitting Jacob Hoffman, who proceeded to bury the triple. Soon after, Covington drove again and found Basil Peterson for the jumper after Hinton spun baseline against Duncan and powered it up for two more on the previous possession. GAC’s quick 7-0 spurt in overtime proved to be the dagger as the Golden Bears wouldn’t threaten again, giving the shorthanded Spartans a huge 75-67 victory.
My Take: Thursday night basketball is something I can get used to. What a game this was; back and forth the whole way. Every time it looked like either team was going to pull away, the other would respond. To be honest, I had no idea who Hunter McIntosh was before tonight. Now I know. The freshman guard looked as calm and collected as it gets in a hostile environment as he had to take on the lead guard duties with Brian Coffey injured. When I found out he was a freshman, I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t making any crazy plays or flashy moves; he was just solid and knocked down every open shot he had. Garrett Covington showed why he is a Gwinnett Daily Post Super Six selection and did everything out there tonight. In overtime alone he had two assists and a handful of rebounds to close it out. Burly Chris Hinton grinded his way to eight big points and did a good job on Brent Duncan down low. Jacob Hoffman splashed home an early three, but after hurting his ankle, he wasn’t able to be as explosive. He gutted it out and played with a grimace on his face. His big three in overtime gave the Spartans the separation they needed. After the game, Hoffman was seen limping out of the locker room with his shoe off. Hopefully it’s not too serious.
This was my second time seeing Holy Innocents’ play. They have three players that can take over a game any given night as they all showed flashes. Cole Smith might as well be called the baby faced assassin. He doesn’t look like your prototypical go-to player, but his handles are tight and his stroke is as pure as it gets. Duncan had a slow first half but began to carve up GAC inside during the second half. Jules Erving once again impressed me. He scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds, collected seven assists, two steals, two blocks and guarded Covington during most of the night. Talk about a busy night. Harrison Cobb played well. He fouled out with 22.2 seconds left in regulation and his calming presence yet intense play was missed in overtime. He finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists. It will be fun to watch these two teams duke it out again this year as they jockey for position atop Region 6.
Top Performers
Greater Atlanta Christian
Garrett Covington – 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Hunter McIntosh – 27 points, 3 rebounds
Chris Hinton – 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
Jacob Hoffman – 8 points
Anthony Carter – 5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Holy Innocents’
Cole Smith – 29 points, 2 blocks
Jules Erving – 12 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Brent Duncan – 14 points, 4 rebounds
Harrison Cobb – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
