AMERICUS — South Georgia Tech jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back in beating Waycross College, 60-47, on Wednesday night.
Rearkus McCrory led three Jets in double figures with 18 points as SGTC improved to 12-9 overall and 4-2 in the GJCAA.
“I was pretty pleased due to the fact that we really made some adjustments in what we’ve done all year in our scheme for the game,” said Jets coach Steven Wright. “We played a lot more zone and a lot more zone press, and we slowed them down a lot and got them out of their comfort zone.”
The Jets led 31-18 at the half and scored the first eight points of the second half for their biggest margin of the game.
Brandon Hosely — the conference’s top scorer — brought the Swamp Foxes to within 43-34 on a steal on an inbounds and layup with 14:19 remaining.
The Jets pushed the lead back to 47-35 when they slowed down the game the final 11 minutes, using up most of the shot clock each possession.
“We wanted to limit their possessions, and we had so many guys banged up, we couldn’t afford to get up and down as much as we usually do and risk another kid getting hurt,” said Wright. “Overall, we may not have necessarily scored a lot, but we did what we needed to do to win the game. We were playing a little different brand of basketball than we’re used to.
“They like to play very aggressive and that kind of limited some of that. We’re traditionally a team that likes to speed people up, but we knew going in we had to slow it down and take them out of their comfort zone.”
Wright said Hosely averaged 30 points over his last three games and shot 21 free throws against Georgia Perimeter on Saturday. The Jets held Hosely to 19, and he was 3 of 3 at the free-throw line.
Waycross shot 52 free throws against the Jaguars, but attempted 15 on Wednesday. The Swamp Foxes were held to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor.
Markell Smith scored 10 and grabbed eight rebounds, and Steve Robinson added 10 points.
Josh Tarver tossed in eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots as he’s come on strong in the paint over the last few games.
“We had hoped even earlier that he would start producing,” said Wright. “Obviously, he started producing later and is getting a little confidence. We’re trying to go to him a little more, and I hope he gets a little bit stronger and tries to assert himself on the offensive end and defensive end.”
The Jets held a 41-34 rebounding edge and a 22-9 advantage in points off the bench.
Daley Strafford is out indefinitely with family reasons, and Vince Louis was back after sustaining a head injury Jan. 16.
Waycross was led by assistant coach Fred King after head coach Cory Baldwin had to sit out after picking up two technicals against Georgia Perimeter.
Travis Ellison was the other Swamp Fox in double figures with 11.
The Jets are back in action Monday when they travel to conference co-leader Middle Georgia, which lost 86-85 to Coastal Georgia on Wednesday. Wright said SGTC is 6-2 all-time in Cochran.
“Even after the Coastal loss, we really still do control out destiny,” said Wright. “I don’t know if we’ll win them all, but we’ll certainly without a doubt finish in first place if we do. Middle is the cream of the crop, even though they got beat. Traditionally, we’ve played well up there, and we’ll see what happens.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Chris Whitaker
-
Chris Whitaker
Jets take down Swamp Foxes
- Local Sports
-
-
Pope visits Phoebe Sumter Medical Center
Americus native Leonard Pope made his first visit to the new Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, which opened on December 16, 2011. The 183,000 square foot, 76-bed facility replaces the old hospital that was destroyed by an EF3 tornado on March 1, 2007.
-
Lady Hurricanes win record-breaking game
The record-breaking 2011-2012 season for the Georgia Southwestern Lady Hurricanes continued Monday evening with an individual milestone being passed. Jessica Bivins would score her 1,000th point of her college career as the Lady Hurricanes won their NCAA Division II record 15th game as they downed the visiting Lady Cougars of Columbus State (12-9, 7-5 PBC) by a score of 77-65.
-
Led by senior Jacorbi Denmark, the Marion County boys win in thrilling fashion
The Marion County Eagles boys basketball team was flying high at the conclusion of Tuesday night’s game against the Patriots of Greenville High School. In a game mostly dominated by the Eagles, it took a last second shot to sink the hopes of the visiting Patriots.
-
Three SGTC Jets ranked in latest NJCAA national poll
South Georgia Technical College’s Khiry White, Kentavious Clowers and Phillip Flowers were all ranked individually in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) national basketball poll this week. White and Clowers have appeared in the rankings consistently throughout January, but this was the first time that Phillip Flowers had cracked the national polls for 2012.
-
Marion County Lady Eagles drop tough home game on senior night
The Marion County Lady Eagles basketball team dropped a heartbreaking game to Region 4-A foe Greenville High School on Tuesday night in Buena Vista. The Lady Eagles battled hard the entire game and either led or had a share of the lead at the end of each of the four regulation periods. Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, the Lady Patriots of Greenville caught fire at the right time and won the contest in overtime by a score of 57-52.
-
Early struggles too much to overcome for GSW men against Columbus State
The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team shot 25 percent from the floor and trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half on Monday against Columbus State in the Storm Dome, digging a hole too deep to escape and falling to the Cougars, 64-55.
-
Southland boys basketball end season on region tournament loss
The Southland Academy boys basketball team wrapped up their season with a region tournament loss to Westfield at ABAC on Tuesday night. Southland stayed in the game through the first two periods, and only trailed 17-22 at halftime. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Westfield caught fire in the second half and had extended their lead to 59-36 when the game ended.
One of the bright spots in the game for Southland was Senior guard Michael Miller. Miller scored 14 points for the Raiders while holding Westfield’s best player to only 12 points, most of which came in the fourth quarter. -
Brother-sister duo lead Schley County basketball teams to a doubleheader sweep
Basketball is a team sport that requires the entire team to play together to win, but two individual stars shone brightly on Tuesday night for the Schley County Wildcats and Lady Wildcats.
-
Sumter Gymnastics bring home first places
The Sumter County Gymnastics Academy team has entered its competition season for 2012. They attended two meets in January and brought home first places awards in both.
-
Lady Canes basketball wins big on the road
Three days after righting the ship with a 19-point victory over North Georgia, the Georgia Southwestern Lady Hurricanes earned their biggest conference victory since defeating Montevallo 101-57 two months earlier. Saturday's 72-47 victory over the Georgia College Bobcats (4-16, 2-9 PBC) put another notch in GSW's PBC belt.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
Pope visits Phoebe Sumter Medical Center
