Teams get defensive - region games tight in fight for standings

From here on out, the games have lots of importance in region standings and the Fayette County basketball teams are in a very heated race.

The Starr’s Mill varsity boys basketball team defeated Banneker Friday 67-55 at the Panther Pit.  The leading scorer was senior Hadyn Barnes with 18 points.  Fellow senior Mike Voso added 15 points and junior Jeff Greene had 12 points and 10 rebounds.  The Panthers (10-5, 5-1 region) host Lithia Springs Wednesday (make-up from Saturday), and host Fayette County on Friday. Starr’s Mill’s girls lost to Lithia Springs on Saturday 57-36. They will meet Fayette County on Friday and will host East Coweta at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the first game of the second annual Girls Night Out Kay Yow Fundraiser.

Fayette County’s boys (14-3, 5-1 region) picked up two more wins over the weekend. The Tigers, currently ranked seventh in Class AAAA, edged out Lithia Springs 76-75. Adam Smith had 22 points, while Anthony Harper added 21 and Maurice Williams added 12 points and 14 rebounds. On Saturday, the Tigers slipped by Tri-Cities 60-58. Smith had 19 points in the win, while Brandon Grant added 15 and Larry Erves had 14. Williams and Ekene Anachebe each had 11 rebounds.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers (16-3, 6-0 region) had no problem with either team, defeating Lithia Springs 54-35 and Tri-Cities 62-14. Sasha Sims led the Lady Tigers on Friday with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Anma Onyeuku added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sims was the leading scorer on Saturday with 23 points, while Onyeuku added 20. Fayette County plays at Starr’s Mill on Friday and hosts Northgate next Tuesday.

The McIntosh Lady Chiefs (11-6, 3-2 region) defeated Sandy Creek on Friday 54-39 behind 22 points and seven steals from Gabby Seiler, while Laura Higgason chipped in 11 points and Shelbi Sims added 10. The McIntosh boys (11-6, 4-1 region) beat Sandy Creek 61-58. Chris Longoria led the Chiefs with 16 points, while Marques McGill led Sandy Creek with 10 points and eight rebounds. Josh Ball had 11 points and Jay Manning had 10 for McIntosh and Sean Rowe and Zach Smith each added nine for the Patriots. The McIntosh Lady Chiefs lost to Douglas County 66-52 Saturday. Seiler led McIntosh with 18 points, five steals and six assists, while Higgason had 15 points. The boys beat Douglas County 115-73 on Saturday.

On Saturday, Whitewater’s boys and girls faced Sandy Creek and got swept. The Lady Wildcats (8-8, 1-4 region) lost 51-28. Akeila Lain led Sandy Creek (6-10, 3-2 region) with 11 points, while Emily Stallings was Whitewater’s leading scorer with nine points. When asked about her team’s defense, Sandy Creek’s head coach Leslie Cooper said “It starts with the first foul, we emphasize team defense. It was a team effort just 5 on 5 basketball.” Whitewater head coach Steve Hale put his team’s offensive woes simply, saying “We’re not shooting the ball well, we have 2 keys: transition into our offense and shoot the ball better.”

The boys game was much closer. Whitewater (5-10, 0-3 region) had a lead in the second half but Sandy Creek (10-6, 4-1 region) surged at the end and won 55-51. Leading scorers for the Wildcats were Joshua Walker with 10 points, Jamally Prosper with 15 points and John-Mark Rhodes with 10 points, while Patrick Dugger lead the defense with seven blocks. Sandy Creek was lead by Zach Smith with 13 points, Sean Rowe with 11 points and Asa Caruthers with nine points.

Sandy Creek’s head coach Rashad Muyee praised his team saying “I’ve got to give it up to the seniors; they were the ones who got the team together and lead us to victory”. When asked what was the key to the comeback he answered in one word “Defense.”

Landmark Christian’s girls got a 34-28 win over Atlanta International. Santricia hight had 15 points for the Lady War Eagles, while Haley mcmanus chipped in seven rebounds. “They came out and jumped on us early, but I was proud of how our girls got back into the game,” said head coach Brett Nastasi. “I was really pleased defensive with us holding Madison Scott, their 6’3 girl, to 12 points tonight.”

Landmark’s boys beat Atlanta International 65-50 but lost to Pace Academy on Saturday 60-40. Landmark plays at Providence Christian on Saturday.

Our Lady of Mercy’s Lady Bobcats picked up a win over Locust Grove on Saturday, 33-27. The boys also defeated Locust Grove, winning 60-50. They will host Whitefield Academy on Friday.

Student stringer Kennington Smith assisted in the reporting in this article. His full articles are available at www.thecitizensports.com