Gordon Central drops pivotal 7-2A contest
The Gordon Central High School basketball team’s hopes of being one of the top seeds in the upcoming Region 7-2A tournament took a hit Tuesday night when the Warriors dropped a 57-45 home decision to Rockmart.
The loss was the Warriors’ third straight and second straight in the league, dropping them to 2-4 in the Region and keeping them in fifth place.
They were looking to end that skid Friday night with a road trip to Murray County, which is currently sitting in second place in the Region, a game behind frontrunning Model. (Details of that Gordon Central-Murray County game were not available at press time).
The Warriors remain in the league when they return home next Tuesday night to face Haralson County, which is still behind them in the standings at 1-5 at the end of the first half of play.
In the loss to Rockmart, the Yellow Jackets got out to quick lead and then held it the rest of the way to take a two-game lead over the Warriors in the 7-2A standings with just a little over three weeks left in the regular season.
Each team drained a 3-point shot in the first quarter, but that was the Warriors’ only made basket other than two more free throws. In the meantime, the visitors were 5-of-6 from the free throw line and added a pair of field goals to build up a 12-5 lead after one.
Senior guard Mac McDaniel had that long distance shot for Gordon Central
and junior guard Logan Curtis made the two free throws.
The Yellow Jackets, who are now 4-3 in the Region, and the Warriors essentially traded points in the second period with the visitors outscoring GC, 14-13, for a 26-18 lead at halftime.
Junior guard DJ Fleetwood, who is returning from an injury, along with sophomore forward Amir Harrison had four points each in the second for the Warriors, who had five different players score in the period.
Rockmart would gather its first double-digit lead in the third period, topping Gordon Central, 1714, for a 43-32 margin to begin the fourth.
Senior guard Blake Broome, who led his team with 16 points, scored eight of those in third for the Warriors on a pair of shots from behind the line and another field goal and Fleetwood, who was second on the team with 14 points, had six more on a trio of baskets to produce all of their team’s tallies.
Both players kept their team close in the fourth with Broome scoring seven more and Fleetwood adding four, but the Yellow Jackets got the victory.
Going into Friday night’s games, Model led the 7-2A with a 6-1 mark while Murray County is just off the pace at 5-2. North Murray stands 4-2 and technically tied for second place because they also have two losses while Rockmart is fourth at 4-3.
Gordon Central now stands 9-6 on the year.