Two thrillers get GHSA Championship Week off to a rollicking start; Hancock Central falls short
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
A Public Girls: No. 3/1 Lake Oconee Academy 45, Hancock Central 29
(Rankings are from Sandy’s Spiel/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with records)
The scoreboard after a quarter looked pretty good for Hancock Central.
The Bulldogs led one-loss Lake Oconee Academy by three points, albeit only by a 7-4 margin.
Certainly the teams would get going in the second quarter. One did, and it wasn’t Hancock Central.
Lake Oconee made six more shots in the second quarter and grabbed seven more rebounds to take control en route to the win in the first tournament game of the week.
Hancock Central had a rugged afternoon from the floor, shooting an icy 18.7 percent en route to its lowest point total of the season by seven points (against 4A semifinalist Baldwin and AA second-rounder Washington County). Jameria Lawrence and Sonovia Reynolds each had eight points, and they teamed for 16 of the Bulldogs’ 35 rebounds.
Lake Oconee didn’t light it up, either, connecting 30.6 percent of the team. Long-range wasn’t a good idea for either team. Hancock Central was 1 for 16 on 3s to 2 for 23 for LOA.
A full story is coming in the morning in Coverage.
A Public Boys: No. 2/1 Drew Charter 51, No. 6 Warren County 50
The Screaming Devils seemed set to take the trophy home, leading by four at halftime and charging out to a nine-point third-quarter lead.
Drew Charter cut it to a possession, and the fourth quarter was a one- or two-possession quarter. Warren County led 50-46 with 23 seconds left. Kenyatta Bennett nailed a 3 from the left wing four seconds later to make it a one-point game.
After a timeout, Drew Charter’s Cedric Taylor deflected a lazy inbounds pass and was fouled on his shot in the lane with 13.2 seconds left.
He hit both. Warren County got it in easily, but then overthrew it down the sideline right in front of its bench with 8.6 seconds left.
Cam Johnson went to the line with seven seconds left, and missed the front end, giving the Screaming Devils another chance. They got it downcourt, into the lane, but the clock went off before a shot attempt that likely would’ve drawn a whistle for a foul.
Warren County outshot Drew Charter 42-24.7 percent, but was outshot from 3, the winners making five more shots.
4A Girls: vs. No. 5 Marist 56, No. 1 Luella 54, 2 OT
Luella will burn the video of this heartbreaker, in which they led the vast majority of the time, like from the 2:25 mark of the first quarter until, well, the end of regulation, more than 32 minutes overall, and have nightmares about Avery Fantucci.
They led by 11 midway through the third, but Marist chipped back to make it a one-possession game inside the final three minutes. The Lions executed a sweet inbounds play and got a layup from Trinity Layton for a 3-point lead with three seconds left, only for Fantucci to drain a buzzer-beater from a step shy of halfcourt to tie it at 46.
Neither team was overly sharp in the first overtime, with only one bucket in the final 2:32. Fantucci wore the cap again, though, Marist had the heroics again, though.
Luella had the ball in the halfcourt and played for the last shot;. Milani Smith drove down the left side of the lane and Fantucci reached in and got a piece of the ball. Smith lost it, Lauren Kim grabbed it and threw it down court to a streaking Fantucci, who got the ball off before the horn for the game-winning layup.
Fantucci finished with 19 points in 39 minutes, while Alex Norris had 14 rebounds and Lexy Faklaris 13 to go with 19 points. Five Marist players went almost the distance, with at least 36 minutes. Smith had 20 points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes for Luella.
4A Boys: No. 5/3 Spencer 62, No. 3 /4 Westover 42
Spencer saw two games in which a team in some level of control found a way to lose, and made sure not to repeat it.
The Greenwave trailed 3-0, and then again in the third quarter for at was it. The teams muddled through the first and second quarters, Spencer taking a 20-16 halftime lead as they both struggled from the floor.
The Greenwave did cough up the lead for about two minutes in the third, regaining it with 3:53 left and outscoring Westover 15-4 the rest of the third quarter for a 43-30 lead entering the fourth.
The margin peaked at 24 points with 3:08 left.
Nine Greenwave scored, led by 12 from Randall Dicon and 11 each from Tony Montgomery and Tycen McDaniels. Spencer improved from 9 of 29 in the first half to 16 of 27 in the second half from the floor.
Anthony Milton led Westover with 12.