AMERICUS —
As the Southland Academy Lady Raiders and Raiders prepared for the GISA Region 3-AAA tournament they had to be careful not to overlook the visiting Southwest Georgia Academy Warriors and Lady Warriors on Friday night. In a game that would be easy to look past, Southland came out firing on all cylinders in each game and by the time the night had ended both the Lady Raiders and Raiders claimed victory in their regular season finale.
Ella Hawkins and the Lady Raiders got the night started with a huge win to finish their regular season on a very high note. Leading 48-26 after three periods, the Lady Raiders continued to pour on the scoring with a 12-10 run in the final period to claim the 60-36 non-region victory. Sophomore guard Ella Hawkins had a monumental night for Southland, scoring nearly two-thirds of the team’s 60 points with 37. Hawkins also added eight steals in the victory, and Taylor Moore added eight points and three rebounds. Madison McPherson added six rebounds and four steals and Chris Shattles and Kendall Crew played excellent defense combining for nine steals and four assists.
Following the girl’s game, the Raiders took the court with hopes of avenging a loss to SGA earlier this season. Geoffery got the night started for the Raiders with a three pointer, followed by a tough goal under the net to put the first five points of the game on the board for the Raiders. Colby Webb would send up a free throw, and Dustin Shattles would close out the first period with a long three-pointer to give the Raiders a 10-6 lead. Webb would catch fire in the second period, hitting eight consecutive points, and once again Shattles would hit a huge three-pointer as time expired to stretch the Raiders halftime lead to 21-13.
SGA would finally find some offense in the third period, but a 14-9 fourth quarter run by Southland would put the cap on any comeback by the Warriors. As the game ended, Southland claimed their third-straight victory of the week with a hard-fought 46-37 victory.
Webb finished as the game’s leading scorer with 20 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds for another double-double this season. Shattles finished the night with 11 points to round out the Raiders double-digit scorers.
The Lady Raiders and Raiders will now prepare to host the first round of the Region 3-AAA tournament tonight in Americus. The Lady Raiders will take on Calvary at 5:30 p.m., and the Raiders will battle Tiftarea following at 7 p.m. Should both Southland teams win, each team would take on Deerfield on Friday in Albany for a chance to play in the championship game on Saturday. This season, the Lady Raiders defeated Calvary twice, and the Raiders took down Tiftarea twice as well.
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Related Photos
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Ella Hawkins scored 37 points in Southland’s Friday night win over Southwest Georgia Academy Scott Phillips
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Colby Webb had 20 points and 12 rebounds in his double-double against the Southwest Georgia Academy Warriors. Scott Phillips
Lady Raiders and Raiders take down SGA in regular season finale
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