Chris Whitaker
ELLAVILLE — The Schley County boys basketball team was in good position to challenge for a home and region win on Tuesday against Dooly County.
That was until the first four minutes of the third quarter.
The Bobcats broke open a 26-23 halftime lead with a 16-0 run and went on to a 71-41 win.
Dooly (11-8, 5-2 2A-A) outscored Schley 26-6 in the decisive third quarter as the Wildcats (4-11, 1-6) dropped their third in a row.
"We kind of played a Jekyll and Hyde game," said coach David Kessler. "Other than the slow start, I thought we played pretty well the first half. The second half, it seemed as if we just shut down. But give Dooly credit, they turned up the heat on us, and we just didn't handle it as well as we needed to."
The Bobcats opened the game with a 11-1 run. Lorenzo Lawson's jumper at the buzzer brought the Wildcats to within 17-11. Dooly built a 25-15 lead when Schley responded with an 8-1 run over the final three minutes to pull within three at the break.
"We just stayed focused and stuck with our game plan," said Kessler. "We wanted to make them beat us from the outside and not give them second-chance opportunities. We were able to knock down a couple of threes to get us back in it at the half."
Kessler said the Wildcats have been able to handle the full-court press in recent games, but they didn't against the Bobcats. He said they had about nine turnovers just with the press; they committed 20 in the game.
Kessler said, however, Tuesday's game was not a good representation of how the team has played of late.
"It is more that we will have a four- to five-minute stretch here or there in a game where we just don't do a very good job on either end of the floor. You just can't get away with that in this league. You have to be consistent and play for 32 minutes to compete.
"We definitely need to get better defensively. We are not just giving up too many points, but also too many easy baskets. We need to do a better job on the boards and take better care of the basketball against pressure. We must also do a better job at the free-throw line. We are getting to the line, just not taking advantage of it.
Markendous Thornton led the Wildcats with 13 points, and Johnny Guinn had nine.
Marquis Harris led four Bobcats in double figures with 12 points.
Girls
Dooly Co. 67, Schley Co. 39
The Lady Wildcats led 12-7 two minutes entering the second quarter when the tide turned.
Dooly outscored Schley 23-11 in the second quarter for a 28-18 halftime lead and extended the lead from there to drop the Lady Wildcats to 2-13 overall and 0-6 in region play.
"I don't feel like the girls played as well as they could have," said coach Chandler Schofield. "We were not hitting many shots from the outside and missed quite a few easy baskets under the goal."
Schofield said the third quarter has seemed to be her team's downfall this season as Dooly outscored Schley 27-7 in the third.
""The girls played well in their zone defense, but Dooly passed the ball well, and their girls were making their outside shots," said Schofield. "We went from a 3-2 to a 2-1-2 and went back to the 3-2 towards the end of the game.
"I honeslty didn't think my starters had the legs to go into a man. So, we stuck with a zone. They did some good things at times, but we mainly need to get stronger and more aggressive with rebounding. That seems to be our weakness."
Jac'Keria Sanders hit one of her four 3-pointers at the buzzer to end the first half and finished with 16 points to lead Dooly (13-6, 6-1).
Trideria Burke led all scorers with 24 points. Miranda Burke chipped in 12, and Tylicia Sanders had 10.
A game after setting the school record for points in a game, Krista Dillard scored 19 to lead Schley; Sebrena Howard scored eight.
Schley travels to Stewart County on Friday, and Schofield said the team is doing well overall.
"We are improving every game," she said. "Last Friday, our game against Quitman was an exciting win and boosted our confidence greatly I believe."
