Strong picks up victory
STRONG - Sophomore guard Dynasty Davis scored 31 points Tuesday to spur Strong past Hermitage 55-40 and into first place in the 1A/2A East.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in conference.
The win avenged a loss at Hermitage earlier and locked up the head-tohead tiebreaker with the Lady Hermits, if necessary.
“It was a bigger deal beating them and jumping on them like we did in the first half and putting our best foot forward,” said Strong coach Jason Porter.
“I felt like if we played as good as we could play and if they played as good as they could play, we were going to win. That first half was about as good as we’ve played. We executed. Dynasty got rolling. When we’re doing that, we’re hard to beat.
“The main thing was showing them that we had their number.”
Strong jumped out to an 11-1 lead after Davis’ 3-pointer with 2:12 left in the first. Amaya Smith had seven straight points, during the stretch, including a three-point play.
The Lady Bulldogs settled for a 13-7 lead after one quarter.
Davis scored 13 in the second quarter, draining three 3-pointers.
Two of those came during a 13-2 run, which saw the lead swell from
24-15 to 37-17.
Lisa Raney scored for the Lady Hermits to cut the margin to 37-19 at the half.
The Lady Bulldogs extended the lead to 43-21 after Kiki Shelton’s bucket midway in the third.
Hermitage fought back with seven unanswered points. Camille Clanton hit two at the line to snip the lead to 45-28 early in the fourth. The margin was 50-36 midway in the final period when Strong began gnawing at the clock.
The Lady Bulldogs chewed the clock down from 4:12 until the 2:19 mark before Hermitage sent Davis to the line. Davis hit five free throws down the stretch to help secure the victory.
Porter credited his team’s defense with getting the win over the bigger Lady Hermits.
“The main thing we were trying to do was get pressure on their guards. I wanted to try to make them start their offense at halfcourt because most girls teams can’t do that. It helped us in transition, too,” he said.
Smith finished with 11 points for Strong while Shelton added nine to complement Davis’ big offensive night.
“People put a person on Dynasty a lot. The first half, they didn’t really have a girl on her. They did the second quarter but we started running a lot of picks for her and she got hot,” said Porter.
“In the second half, I purposely slowed them down. Getting up 20 and we have a game on Thursday, I just said, ‘we need to run this clock out.’ So I put the brakes on them for the purpose of just trying to save them a little bit.
“Dynasty is hard to put a rein on, though. She could’ve had 40 if I told her to go.”
Amanda Hollingsworth led the Lady Hermits with 12 points while Kristian Marshall scored 11.
Strong has a quick turnaround as it hosts Hampton on Thursday in another crucial league matchup. The Calhoun County Lady Bulldogs are currently in second place.
“If they beat us, we’re tied for first again,” said Porter. “The last time we played, we beat them in double overtime over there and Dynasty had 40. I assume he’s going to have a girl on her. So, my other girls, Kiki and Amaya, are going to have to step up. But, it’s going to be another big game Thursday night.”
Hermitage won the junior girls game 43-36. Kendall Wilkerson led the Lady Hermits with 20.
Chrisshunda Williams and Holly Baker led Strong with 15 and 12, respectively.
JUNCTION CITY 54, LAKE VILLAGE 49
LAKE VILLAGE - A big fourth quarter proved to be the difference, as the Lady Dragons outscored the Lady Beavers 21-10 in the final stanza to overcome a 39-33 deficit after three periods of play.
Jada Archie had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Dragons (11-10, 6-5), who collected a road victory in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
Taykeetria Rogers had 15 points and eight assists, while Keyanna Ross grabbed 11 rebounds in the win.
DREW CENTRAL 68 SMACKOVER 53
MONTICELLO - Sharnes McGhee scored 21 points for the Lady Bucks (10-8, 6-6), who fell in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
Camree Jones added 12 points and Jordyn White finished with seven points for Smackover.
Darbee Forte had 19 points for Drew Central.
HARMONY GROVE 43, PARKERS CHAPEL 11
PARKERS CHAPEL - Sidney Pigott had 14 points for Harmony Grove, who collected a road victory in Class 1A-2A District 15 action.
T.K. Burson had four points for the Lady Trojans (6-13, 4-5), who were without the services of standout Terri Malone for much of the evening due to a sprained ankle.
Parkers Chapel won the junior girls game 27-12. Drue Thomas had 10 points and Taylor Fortune finished with nine points for the Lady Trojans.
WEST SIDE CHRISTIAN 46, VICTORY CHRISTIAN 9
CAMDEN - Lauren Land had 14 points and Olivia Voss added nine points for the Lady Warriors (10-3, 7-0), who stayed undefeated in the AACS South.
West Side Christian also won the junior girls game 35-7.
Daisy Tabe had 15 points, while Kimber Mitcham had eight points and Grace McNabb finished with seven points for the Lady Warriors (3-5, 2-4).
BOYS STRONG 85, HERMITAGE 61
STRONG - Derrion Davis had 31 of his 38 points in the first half for the Bulldogs (8-11, 3-4), who cruised to a win in Class 1A-2A District 16 action.
On the strength of Davis' huge first half, Strong led 31-13 after the opening period and 55-31 at intermission.
The Bulldogs led 79-46 after three periods before winning by the final margin.
Trey Smith had 15 points and Desmond Newton finished with 13 points for the Bulldogs.
JUNCTION CITY 71, LAKE VILLAGE 51
LAKEVILLAGE - The Dragons broke open a close game by outscoring the Beavers 20-8 in the third period to take a 54-38 lead before winning by the final margin in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
Jerrodney Tubbs was one of three players in double figures for the Dragons with 13 points.
Jalen Davis had 12 points and Shuvasceiaye Frazier added 11 points for Junction City (11-6, 7-4).
Junction City won the junior boys game 56-41.
Jeremiah Williams had 10 points, while Cameron Frazier had nine points for the Dragons, who led 26-12 after the opening period.
Tate Barnett and Zak Brown had eight points apiece for Junction City.
DREW CENTRAL 61, SMACKOVER 49
MONTICELLO - Bryce Lockhart had 18 points and Peyton Jones added 10 points for the Bucks (4-12, 4-8), who were downed in Class 3A-4A District 12 action.
Trenton Eubanks led the Pirates with 10 points.
WEST SIDE CHRISTIAN 59, VICTORY CHRISTIAN 31
CAMDEN - Viraj Vora had 19 points and Zachary Scriber chipped in with 17 points for the Warriors (16-6, 5-2), who cruised to a road win in AACS South play.
Stephfan Tabe added eight points for West Side Christian.
In the junior boys game, West Side Christian came away with a 40-23 win.
Ashton Yarbrough had 15 points and Anderson Colley added eight points for the Warriors (12-4, 6-1).
MONDAY PARKERS CHAPEL 43, HAMPTON 37
HAMPTON – The Trojans (17-3) held the Bulldogs to one field goal in the fourth quarter Monday to pull away.
Nate Garrett-Evans led Parkers Chapel with 20 points. Dawson Goodwin and Amari Bell scored nine points apiece for the Trojans, while Isaiah Brown added five.
The game was knotted at 33-33 going into the fourth quarter. But, PC held Hampton to two free throws and one basket in the final eight minutes to pull out the win.
Parkers Chapel won the junior boys game 42-31 to up its record to 8-7.
Evan Younger led the Trojans with 14. Lancer Clark scored nine while Trace Shoup and Austin Looney contributed seven and six, respectively.