AMERICUS —
Entering the final week of regular season play, the Southland Academy Raiders and Lady Raiders basketball teams were looking to get hot as they prepare for the GISA Region 1-AAA Tournament. Two very tough opponents visited Americus to begin the Raiders final home-stand of the season, and after sweeping Randolph Southern on Monday night, Southland split a contest with region foe Tiftarea on Tuesday to start their week with three wins and only one loss.
The Lady Raiders got the week started with a big win over Randolph Southern on Monday night. The Lady Raiders took a 15-9 lead into the second period after a huge first quarter, and by halftime Southland had expanded that lead to 20 points, 40-20. Although the Lady Raiders would be outscored in the third period 16-11, they would still take a 51-36 lead into the final period, where they would cruise to an impressive 71-60 win.
Ella Hawkins led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 29 points and added seven steals, and Eighth grader Madison McPherson had a double-double with 16 points and 18 rebounds to go along with seven steals and three blocks. Kendall Crew also had a terrific night with 10 points, eight steals and six assists in the win.
The Raiders would then take the court and they too would jump out to an early lead behind a 12-10 run in the first period. An even bigger second period would give the Raiders a 31-22 halftime lead that they would quickly stretch to 47-28 going into the final period. Southland would keep the pedal to the metal in the fourth period, and as the clock winded down, a free throw by Allen Gleeson would cap off the 65-44 win.
Geoffrey McDonald would lead the Raiders in scoring with 16 points, followed by senior center Colby Webb with 14 points.
Following the huge Monday night wins, Southland was back in action at home on Tuesday as Tiftarea traveled to Americus for a Region 1-AAA showdown.
As the night started, the Lady Raiders of Southland would go back-and-fourth with the Lady Panthers of Tiftarea on the way to a 14-12 first quarter in favor of Tiftarea. The Lady Raiders would fall behind by 10 in the second period, but a huge third period run would pull the score back to 35-30 in favor of Tiftarea as the teams entered the final quarter. Unfortunately for Southland, the Lady Panthers would dominate the fourth period, and as the final buzzer sounded the scoreboard showed a 51-38 Tiftarea advantage.
Lady Raider head coach Paula McDonald knows that her team is still young, but she is still excited about the quality experience that her youthful team is building. “"I was very proud of the overall effort from our girls. We are a young team that is learning valuable on the job training and I think it will help them down the road,” McDonald said.
The Raiders would then warm up and take the opening tip in the second game of the Tuesday night double-header. This game would be a tale of two very different halves as Southland would enter the locker room at halftime trailing 11-7 in a very defensive contest. In a huge turn of events, Southland would come out of the locker room on fire, putting up 22 points to Tiftarea’s five to storm back and claim a 29-16 lead going into the final quarter. The fourth period would be a shot-for-shot quarter, but the massive Southland third quarter would provide plenty of breathing room as the Raiders claimed a huge 45-33 Region 1-AAA victory.
Webb would once again tally a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and McDonald would also add a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Raider coach Rundy Foster said that the key to the Raiders recent surge has been their ability to work the ball inside on opposing defenses. “We got the ball inside, and when we get it inside it not only helps us get easy baskets, but it also opens up the outside.” said Foster.
The 2012-13 regular season for Southland will end on Friday night at home when they take on SGA. The Lady Raiders will begin play at 6:30, followed by the Raiders.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Colby Webb (41) takes a shot against Randolph Southern on Monday night. Webb helped lead the Raiders to a 2-0 record to start their last week of the regular season. Scott Phillips
Raiders take two, girls split early week contests
- Local Sports
-
-
Lady Eagles dominate final track meet to claim Class A state championship
The GHSA Class A state track meet held this past weekend was just another meet for the Marion County Lady Eagles. After dominating the area and sectional meets earlier this season, the Lady Eagles went out on top by dominating the state meet to earn their school its second state championship of the weekend following the boy’s tennis team’s title-clinching match win on Saturday morning.
-
Eagles claim state tennis title behind singles sweep
The Marion County boys tennis team made history this season with the school’s first ever state championship in tennis. They faced area rival Irwin County in the state final and were able to earn the championship with wins in the three singles positions.
-
Raiders advance to quarterfinals with convincing win in deciding game 3
The Southland Academy Raiders quickly found themseleves with their backs against the wall in the first round of the GISA Class AAA baseball playoffs last weekend. After surrendering nine runs to the Loganville Chirstian Academy Lions in the first inning in the first of a three-game series, it looked as if Southland might be traveleing back to Americus early. The resilient Raiders were not looking for an early return trip, however, and after a tremendous comeback in a 11-10 opening game loss Southland rebounded with two dominating victories to move on to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
-
Sumter County Gymnastics Academy excels in state championship meets
Over the past three weekends, Sumter County Gymnastics Academy has competed in the 2013 State Gymnastics meets. April 19-21, the Level 4s, Prep 1s and Prep 2s competed in Cobb County and April 26-28, the Level 2s, Level 3s, and Prep Beginners competed in Bainbridge.
-
Americus-Sumter gymnastics team wins 2013 Gym Nest meet
-
Relay team propels Wildcats to 9th place finish at state meet
The Schley County boy’s track team knew that the competition would be tough at the GHSA Class A State Meet last week, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from claiming a ninth place finish in the 29 team season finale.
-
Schley’s Barnes, Holloway sign with GSW
Schley County seniors Justin Barnes and Mitch Holloway signed letters of intent Friday with Georgia Southwestern State University to play baseball for the Hurricanes. Each of the seniors was an integral player on Schley County’s 2013 region championship team and each left profound marks on the Wildcats team this season.
-
'Canes golfers finish 10th; Gahman advances to Nationals
The 22nd-ranked Georgia Southwestern golf team made a run at top squads during Wednesday's final round, moving as close as two shots within a birth in the NCAA National Championships, before finishing in 10th place at the 20-team NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional. All-Peach Belt Conference First Team honoree Nate Gahman led the Hurricanes throughout the three-day, three-round event and earned a trip to the national tournament as an individual after carding a 3-over par 219 total.
-
Panthers tennis season comes to an end with second round loss to Howard
In the second round of the GHSA Class AAAA boy’s tennis playoffs, the Americus-Sumter Panthers were giving the difficult task of making a long road trip to Macon to challenge the Reigon 2 champion Howard High School Huskies. Despite putting up a good fight on the road, Americus-Sumter’s boy’s came up just short to the Huskies in a difficult 3-1 season-ending loss.
-
SCPRD track team dominates district meet, qualifies 40 for state
In the district track meet held recently at Americus-Sumter High School, the Sumter County Parks and Recreation Department (SCPRD)track team dominated the competition to take the district title and qualify 40 participants for the state track meet in Carrollton, Ga. this weekend.
The SCPRD track team earned the district title in a meet with teams from Irwin, Thomas, Crisp, and Chattahoochee counties. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
