Phoenix involved in early tight 7-4A race
Sonoraville gets home win over Cedartown to pull 5 teams within a game of each other
With the first half of the Region 7-4A basketball schedule coming to an end this Friday night, one thing appears obvious — there are five teams contending for four playoff spots and the best seeds they can earn before the Region tournament begins next month.
And Sonoraville is right in the middle of it.
After splitting a pair of 7-4A games last week, the Phoenix stand 1-2 in the league heading into Tuesday’s night outings and that has them a game behind four teams in the standings with each of them 2-1 to start out.
The Phoenix fell to 0-2 in the Region last Tuesday night with a 48-41 road loss at Central High School, but they got into the win column Friday night at the Furnace with a tough 63-58 decision over still-winless Cedartown.
The Firebirds, led by head coach Brant Mashburn, close out the first half of the 7-4A schedule this week.
On Tuesday night, they were on the road at Northwest Whitfield County (details of that game were not available at press time) and Friday night they return to the Furnace to play Heritage. Both of those teams are above in the standings to begin this week, but with a pair of victories, the Phoenix will rise above them.
In the loss last Tuesday to Central, which has now won 13 games this year, the Phoenix had their second consecutive 41-point outing in league play after they opened with 41 in a loss to Southeast Whitfield County.
But in a must-win situation against Cedartown because they didn’t want to slide to 0-3 in the Region, the Phoenix were much better offensively in scoring over 60 points for the first time in five games.
In fact, they had 41 points in the middle quarters alone, scoring 21 in the second and 20 more in the third when they took commandof the game.
Cedartown got off to a good start offensively, taking a 1512 lead as the first quarter elapsed with guard Elijah Diamond scoring eight points for the Bulldogs on a pair of 3’s and another bucket.
Five different players produced Sonoraville’s first quarter points with guards Elijah Woods and Jordyn Storey each making a three and junior guard Donovan McDaniel adding three more on a bucket and a foul shot.
The hosts heated up in the second period and laid down the defense, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-11 to rally for a 33-26 lead at the intermission.
Junior Ethan Hibberts scored six of his seven points in the period on two hoops and two free throws and led a balanced attack that saw seven different players score. And three of those guys hit one from long distance with Storey, Woods, and Brandon Coats each connecting on a three.
They did the same thing in the third period with seven players combining to put in 20 points and handing the home team a 53-41 bulge to begin the fourth.
McDaniel and Woods set the pace with five apiece in the third on two buckets and a charity toss and Bryant
had four points while Storey made his third and final three of the night.
The Bulldogs didn’t go away though, making things a tad tense towards the end by outscoring Sonoraville, 17-10, in the fourth but they would get no closer than the final margin.
McDaniel had six of those 10 fourth-quarter points for the team on Highway 53, including some clutch free throw shooting with a 4-of-5 performance from the stripe at the end.
McDaniel was his team’s high scorer with 16 points while Woods had 13 on the night. Storey finished with nine points while Bryant had eight and Hibberts had seven.
Cedartown’s Diamond led all scorers with 21 points and Grant Dempsey tallied 10 for the Bulldogs.
Heading into this week, there are no unbeatens in the six-team 7-4A with Central, Northwest Whitfield, Southeast Whitfield and Heritage all sitting at 2-1 and tied for first place in the league after three games.
Sonoraville is a game off the pace at 1-2, but has a chance to move up this week because they play two of those teams.
Cedartown is still winless at 0-3, but the Bulldogs have been competitive in those three games.
The Phoenix are 12-6 overall to start this week, which is the third-best winning percentage in the league. Central stands 13-3 overall and Northwest Whitfield stands 11-4 as, along with Sonoraville, they are the only three teams in the Region with a winning record.