Basketball teams come back from break seeking region wins

The local basketball teams came back from the holiday break last weekend and played games, many of them against region opponents.

The Starr’s Mill varsity girls basketball team improved to 10-4 with convincing region wins over Creekside and New Manchester over the weekend. They defeated Creekside 72-27, with Danielle Garcia scoring 18 points and Katie Wilson adding 11. Kelsey Clark had an impressive game with six points, four assists and four steals and sophomore Carly Pressgrove had four points and six rebounds. The girls defeated New Manchester 40-26 with Katie Buck leading the team with 10 points and three steals.  Lexie Pappas was strong around the basket with six points and seven rebounds while Jenna Ricker had four points, five rebounds and two steals. 

The boys are 10-7 after a win over Creekside on Friday (54-51) and a loss to New Manchester on Saturday (58-49). Jeremiah Vrudny led the Panthers with 19 points against Creekside, while David Watson added 12. Watson led the Panthers with 23 points against New Manchester.

Starr’s Mill will face region rivals McIntosh Saturday at Starr’s Mill.

Whitewater’s boys (8-7) started 2013 with a 70-59 loss to Woodward Academy. Philip Cofer led the Wildcats with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Junaid Olusesi added 11 points. The girls (8-6) lost to Woodward 42-33. Jordan Barnett had 12 points and six assists in the loss while Danielle Ross had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“Jordan Barnett is coming into her own,” said head coach Rashad Muhyee. “She has been doing very well lately and she is only a freshman. Over the break she averaged 11 points and seven assists a game.”

Sandy Creek’s girls (8-2) started the new year with wins over East Coweta (52-21) and Osborne (46-41). Jasmine Jones and Safiya Martin both had 10 points against the Lady Indians while Minnae Harris had 14 points against Osborne and Recee Walker added 11 points. The Lady Patriots will host Shaw on Friday night.

Fayette County’s boys (4-4) took on Lovejoy on Saturday and won 74-63. CJ Johnson had 20 points in the win, while Clark Minnifield added 17, Dante’ Sterling added 14 and Chaz Berry had 12. The Lady Tigers won 57-30.

In region 5-A, landmark’s boys and girls lost to Calvary Day on Friday. The Lady War Eagles (5-8) lost 47-46 and the boys (8-4) lost 59-54. On Saturday, the girls lost to Savannah Christian 48-30 and the boys won 71-43.

Our Lady of Mercy’s boys and girls get back into the region swing with games last night at Greenforest Christian and at Landmark on Friday.