County clashes headline first week of boys’ hoops
The 2022-23 season began for the North Georgia Athletic Conference last week and it didn’t take long for the action to heat up as a pair of boys’ county rivalry games featured thrilling finishes to get the new season off to a fast start.
SADDLE RIDGE 47, ROSSVILLE 45
An offensive put-back by Jacob Hayes with less than five seconds remaining gave the Mustangs a dramatic win this past Thursday in Rock Spring.
A half-court shot by Kaiden Williams gave the Bulldogs a 20-17 lead at intermission and a back-and-forth battle continued into the second half.
Tied at 45 with under 10 seconds to play, Saddle Ridge’s Bryson Penson drove to the basket, but couldn’t get his shot to fall. However, Hayes was Johnny-on-the-spot as he grabbed the rebound in traffic and got the followup to drop, setting off an eruption on the home side of the gym.
The Bulldogs got one final chance in the waning seconds, but an off-balance three from the top of the key was off the mark.
Penson had 16 points and Z Harris added 15 in the win, followed by Hayes and Harrison Gilstrap with seven each and Landon Kimbell with two.
For Rossville, Jayden Lambert poured in a game-high 19 points and Williams went for 11. Raylon Nichols had six points, while the scoring was rounded out with four apiece from Cameron Johnson Moore and Kiyon Williams, and three from King Medford.
RINGGOLD 53, ROSSVILLE 22
The Tigers got 12 points from Zach Grower in their season debut last Monday in Rossville. Blake Williams, Zane Little and Brody Raby each dropped in eight. Landon Sisk added seven and Hunter Epps had six, while the rest of the scoring included three from Will Burgess and one from Eldrich Trazo.
Lambert scored nine points to lead the way for the Bulldogs.
RINGGOLD 43, LAFAYETTE 19
Williams had 11 points and Raby added 10 in a balanced effort during Thursday’s home win. Burgess added five points with Trazo and Sisk dropping in four apiece. Epps scored three, while Little, Grower and Scotty Searcy each finished with two.
Luke Hopkins had seven points and seven rebounds in the loss. Thomas scored six points, followed by Cordle with four and Levi Hopkins with two.
LAKEVIEW 40, HERITAGE 37
Last Monday night in Boynton, the visiting Warriors overcame an eight-point first-quarter hole and took down the Generals in the season-opener.
Chandler Harris had 15 points for Lakeview. Kobe Chatman added 12 points and Marcus Turner finished with eight. Caleb Ownby collected three points and Caleb Underwood had two in the victory.
Cohen Fletcher knocked down four 3-pointers and had a game-high 17 points for the Generals. Sam Coleman had three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Caden Hight had four points and Eli Thacker ended the night with two.
GORDON LEE 45, CHATT. VALLEY. 33
Colt Woods had 19 points with three 3-pointers in the Trojans’ home win last Monday. Jack Purcell added a dozen points and Will Chambers finished with five. Keaton
Lockhart, Dyllan Currie, Cash Cannon and Eli Hasty each had two points, with Gage Helton adding one.
The Eagles got 18 points from T.J. Foster and 12 from Massen Brundage. Jackson Silvey added two points and Javion Lender finished with one.
LAFAYETTE 66, TRION 22
The Ramblers opened up a 32-13 lead at intermission and coasted to a big win over the visiting Bulldogs in their season debut last Monday.
Luke Hopkins went for 14 points, Chris Duncan had 12 and Levi Hopkins dropped in 10 as the Ramblers put three players in double figures.
Cannon Cordle and Aaron Crumbley each had six points, followed by Tay Thomas with five. Cody Fielding and Hagen English each added four. River Clark finished with three and Noah Brown scored two to round things out.
DALTON 40, LAKEVIEW 37
The Warriors stepped away from conference play last Tuesday night to take on Dalton in the Carpet Capital and suffered a narrow loss to the Cougars.
Turner led Lakeview with 13 points, followed by Harris with 11 and Underwood with eight. Braydon Wilson added four and Brody Card chipped in with one.
CHATT. VALLEY 51, DADE 36
The Eagles picked up their initial victory of the season with a home win on Thursday behind a game-high 22 points from Foster, nine by Linder and eight from Silvey. George Bednar and Stryker Harden scored four apiece, while two from Caden Housley rounded out the scoring.
LAKEVIEW 53, GORDON LEE 25
Chatman had 18 points. Turner finished with 14 and Chandler Harris added nine as the Warriors bounced back with a Thursday night victory. Wilson and Shane Burkhalter each added five points with Underwood chipping in two.
The Trojans got 11 points from Wood and six from Purcell, while the rest of the points included two each from Helton, Lockhart, Chambers and Hasty.
HERITAGE 49, TRION 17
The Generals made the long drive to Chattooga County and jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first quarter on their way to the victory. Fletcher dropped in a game-high 14 points and Thacker had nine, while Coleman went for seven and Hight added five.
Brody Hughes and Carson Rich scored four points apiece, while the scoring was rounded out by two each from Tra’vaun Browdy, Jacob Carter and Cooper McCrary.