By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          One minute, Mary Persons led by a point.

          In a little more than an hour after tipoff, Mary Persons had its worst loss since the 2014-15 season after Upson-Lee rolled to an 89-58 win Friday night before an overflow crowd at The Castle in Thomaston.

          Few expected to hit the exits early in the fourth quarter, which was only six minutes long.

          Upson-Lee's 52nd straight win was easier than the first meeting between the two, a 30-point Knights win against an undermanned Bulldogs team that was at full strength Friday night.

          It was a one-point game for the final time at 15-14 in the first quarter before Upson-Lee went on a 6-0 run. Tre Edge's layup in the final seconds pull the Bulldogs to within 24-19 after one.

          Things began to slip away from Mary Persons right after that. The Bulldogs gave up 12 points before scoring in the second quarter, a free throw from Rekia Weaver cutting the deficit to only 36-20. Travon Walker's bucket in the paint sparked an 8-0 run en route to a 49-23 halftime lead.

          Cam Holden scored early in the third for Mary Persons, but that spark was quickly extinguished with 11 straight points, the run capped by Alejandro Lockhart's 3-pointer at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter.

          That made it 61-25. From then, the question was whether the margin would reach 40, and it didn't.

          Fagan had 31 points and Cam Traylor 17, while Walker had a 12-15 double-double. Holden's 21 led the Bulldogs.

          Mary Persons fell to 17-2 overall while Upson-Lee is 20-0. The Bulldogs host rival Jackson Saturday in non-region action, while the Knights welcome Griffin in a non-region play Saturday, too.

 

Updated through midnight

FRIDAY'S SCORES

Girls

Baldwin 63, Richmond Acad. 59

Covenant 42, CFCA 34

Dooly County 71, Crawford County 24

Dublin 48, Bleckley County 47

East Laurens 55, Dodge County 47

          Destanee Wright's 16 led Dodge County, which fell into a tie for second in 3-AA with East Laurens.

FPD 48, Twiggs County 36

          The Vikings had a 22-9 lead at intermission and made it stand en route to their first region win. Sadie Frame led the Vikings, who held the Cobras to one first-quarter point, with 13 points, while Gracie Matthews and Kennedy Cauley had 12 points each.

Lamar County 51, Temple 31

          Lamar County improved to 13-6 and 4-1

Macon County 56, Taylor County 53

Monticello 51, Banks County 41

          Monticello made things interesting in 8-AA with a win over the region leader, giving Banks County its second region loss.

Northside 64, Lee County 45

Stratford 56, Mount de Sales 32

Putnam County 56, Rabun County 47

          Putnam County pulled into a tie for first in 8-AA with Banks County.

Tattnall 58, Wilkinson County 36

          Allie Gordon cruised past the 1,000-point mark for her Tattnall career.

Upson-Lee 73, Mary Persons 32

Veterans 55, Peach County 47

Warner Robins 64, Thomas County Central 16

          Warner Robins led 24-14 at halftime.

West Laurens 69, Perry 56

          Ja'Kerra Wilbur had 22 points - 12 coming on 3s - and 5 assists for the Raiders, while MaKayla Murray had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Calmela Mack had 16 points and 4 steals for West Laurens, which has won 7 of its last 8 game.

 

Missing

          Spalding-Howard; Westside-Kendrick; Rutland-Pike County; Washington-Wilkes-GMC; Hawkinsville-Schley County; Greene County-Hancock Central; Gatewood-Augusta Prep; Twiggs Ac.-Brentwood; Windsor-Piedmont; Griffin Christian-Central Ga.

 

Boys

Baldwin 71, Richmond Acad. 56

          The Braves drained 11 3s to remain unbeaten in region play. Rodney Walker had 18 points, Donte Justice 15 and Torez Hicks 12 for the 15-5 Braves.

Banks County 68, Monticello 61

Dodge County 67, East Laurens 17

          The Indians had little trouble, with Nick Cummings scoring three more than the Falcons. DeMarcus Caines added 18 and Chris Clark 13.

Dooly County 78, Crawford County 43

          The Bobcats got 21 points from Jarquavius Brown and 19 from Zeff Felton in the region rout. Brown had 5 assists and 4 boards, Felton 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Dublin 73, Bleckley County 59

          Bleckley County led 39-36, but the Irish got things together in the second half.

GMC 59, Washington-Wilkes 30

Hancock Central 64, Greene County 43

Lee County 75, Northside 60

Perry 51, West Laurens 48

Stratford 60, Mount de Sales 48

          Mount de Sales led 12-16 after one, but the Eagles led 21-18 at halftime and kept rolling.

Twiggs County 69, FPD 41

          Twiggs County led 28-20 at halftime, but a 20-6 third quarter changed the game. Maurice Gordon led the Vikings (9-7) with 12 points.

Veterans 69, Peach County 59

Westside 103, Kendrick 90

Missing

Warner Robins-TCC; Spalding-Howard; Rutland-Pike County; Putnam County-Rabun County; Lamar County-Temple; Banks County-Monticello; Hawkinsville-Schley County; Taylor County-Macon County; Tattnall-Wilkinson County; Gatewood-Augusta Prep; Twiggs Ac.-Brentwood; Windsor-Piedmont; Griffin Christian-Central Ga.; Covenant-CFCA

 

SATURDAY

Doubleheaders

Girls first, boys second unless noted

1 p.m.

Northside at Warner Robins

1:30 p.m.

Piedmont at Briarwood

2 p.m.

FPD at Howard

Northeast at Central

Southwest at Bleckley County

Pacelli at Taylor County

Schley County at Mount de Sales

3 p.m.

George Walton at Stratford

Westwood at Windsor

3:30 p.m.

Tattnall at Paideia

4 p.m.

Jones County at Union Grove

Westside at Pike County

Putnam County at Elbert County

GMC at Lincoln County

Hancock Central at Washington-Wilkes

5 p.m.

Bainbridge at Veterans

6 p.m.

Dodge County at West Laurens

Baldwin at Washington County

Jackson at Mary Persons

Griffin at Upson-Lee

Dublin at East Laurens

Hawkinsville at Dooly County

Macon County at Greenville

7 p.m.

Wilkinson County at Twiggs County

TBA

Monticello at Oglethorpe County

Deerfield-Windsor at Westfield

 

 

TUESDAY'S SCORES

Girls

Baldwin 61, Cross Creek 43

Brentwood 54, Piedmont 32

Central 52, Westside 48

          Jada Clowers turned in the rare triple-double, leading Central with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocks. Tyleia Williams had 18 points and 4 steals, JeNya Wilder 13 points and 5 steals, and ReNesha Goolsby added 11 points for the Chargers.

Central Talbotton 56, Macon County 47

Central Georgia 35, Ballard Christian 23

Coffee 57, Northside 46

Dodge County 68, Southwest 46

          The trio of Zanessia Mitchell (26), Europe Brown (23) and Destanee Wright (13) was more than enough for Dodge County.

Greenville 82,  Hawkinsville 19

Greene County 48, GMC 43

Lake Oconee 50, Hancock Central 43

Jones County 62, Ola 35

Manchester 62, Crawford County 34

Marion County 75, Dooly County 39

Northeast 49, Bleckley County 31

Peach County 50, Kendrick 33

Perry 61, Upson-Lee 44

Putnam County 65, Social Circle 41

Stratford 60, Twiggs County 39

Tattnall 51, FPD 34

          I'anna Slaughter led Tattnal with 28 points while Allie Gordon added 12 and Ivey Whetsel 10. Molly Lee's 12 points topped FPD.

Taylor County 38, Brookstone 31

Veterans 44, Houston County 38

Washington County 72, East Laurens 52

          The Golden Hawks (15-3/8-0) matched the Falcons with just three players: Nijeria Jordan had 26 points and 7 rebounds, Destinee Ellison had 17 points with Nikayona Warthen and Miracle Parker getting 11 points each.

West Laurens 50, Howard 43

Wilkinson County 32, Mount de Sales 26

 

Boys

Baldwin 67, Cross Creek 55

          The Braves got 21 points from Brenden Robertson, 14 from Rodney Walker and 11 from Torez Hicks.

Calvary Christian 66, CFCA 51

Central Georgia 49, Ballard Christian 42

Citizens Christian 75, Twiggs Acad. 53

Coffee 74, Northside 43

Dodge County 63, Southwest 51

          Nick Cummings took care of nearly half of the Indians' scoring with a 30-point night. DeMarcus Caines added 19 and Chris Clark 10.

FPD 46, Tattnall 44

          FPD thought it took control with a 19-10 second-quarter advantage, but Tattnall won the third quarter 12-3, so the Vikings needed a Jordan Jones bucket with three seconds left for the win. Lance Franklin of Tattnall led all scorers with 19 points, while Henry Middlebrooks topped FPD with 16 points.

GMC 60, Greene County 53

Hancock Central 83, Lake Oconoee 31

Houston County 61, Veterans 45

Kendrick 64, Peach County 63

Jones County 93, Ola 48

Macon County 53, Central Talbotton 46

Manchester 83, Crawford County 51

Marion County 80, Dooly County 73

Northeast 61, Bleckley County 54

Putnam County 64, Social Circle 62

Stratford 68, Twiggs County 49

          Stratford marched out to a 19-9 lead and cruised from there with a strong seocnd half.

Upson-Lee 78, Perry 42

          The Knights won their 51 in a row, and did so in front of Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, on hand to check out Upson-Lee forward Travon Walker, a high-level defensive lineman in the fall.

Washington County 58, East Laurens 46

          Curtis Brown led the Golden Hawks with 17 points, while Jawan Dukes had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

West Laurens 66, Howard 57

Westfield 48, John Milledge 46

 

PPD

Harris County at Warner Robins

Spalding at Mary Persons

Lamar County at Jordan

 

 

MONDAY'S SCORES

Girls

Mitchell County 46, Hawkinsville 21

Washington County 53, Evans 43

          Sophomore Destinee Ellison scored 25 to help Washington County improve to 14-3. Nijeria Jordan added 14 points and 8 rebounds.

 

Boys

Holy Spirit Prep 74, Westside 64

Newton 80, Warner Robins 65

          A top-10 Class 7A program knocked off a top-10 5A program at Morehouse.

Northside 69, Carver 62

Stratford 72, Kendrick 62

          Devin Buts led the Eagles with 25 points as Stratford held off a comeback spearheaded by Tyler Brooks' 33 points.