Bradwell Institute’s basketball teams got a split in home games with Wayne County last Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers handed Wayne a 28-14 loss, while the Yellow Jackets stung the Tigers, 58-45.
Bradwell was scheduled to Wayne County on Friday in Jesup. Results were not available at press time.
The BI teams will return to action on Dec. 29 at the Joe Greene Classic Tournament in Savannah. The boys and girls will tip off against New Hampstead starting at 3 p.m. Dec. 29. The next day, the boys play Beach at 7:30 p.m. The girls’ schedule does not have their opponent listed for Saturday’s game, but they tip off before the boys at 6 p.m.
GIRLS
Neither team seemed to find timing or offense in a low-scoring game filled with turnovers — and neither team was able to capitalize on those either.
“Tonight was kind of ugly on both ends … I know we didn’t play well offensively and I know Wayne County didn’t play well offensively … their top scorer was ice cold and I realized that,” Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said.
The Jackets scored only two points in the first quarter, were completely shut out in the third quarter and notched just one point in the fourth quarter. It was an opportunity for Bradwell to shine, but the Lady Tigers also fell short of their offensive goals.
“We are still missing some easy shots at the rim that we should be converting, and things like that are going to come back and haunt us in a tight game,” Baker said. “We want to work on that and do a better job of running our offense, picking and choosing our shot selections and our drives to the basket. I thought JaVaughna Claridy did a good job of that. She drove to the hoop well and converted well tonight but overall it wasn’t a very good performance. It was an ugly win but we will take it.”
Claridy was the Lady Tigers’ top scorer with nine points.
Raina Richardson had six points, while Journae’ Young chipped in five and Alyssa McDuffie had three off a 3-pointer.
Jakaria Fleming and Autiana Hightower each had two points, and Brianna Johnson scored one point.
The Lady Tigers were 7-3 overall and 3-1 in region 3-AAAAA play going into Friday.
Lady Tigers 12|6|4|6=28
Lady Jackets 2|11|0|1=14
BOYS
BI sophomore George Mitchell led the boys with 16 points, including three 3-pointers.
Mitchell landed one of his trey shots in dramatic fashion, sinking one from near mid-court as the buzzer sounded the end of the first quarter.
“George played really well, and he is a leader and I am really glad he showed a little bit of that tonight,” Bradwell coach Rhett Hellgren said. “He still needs to get better, but I am happy with what he did.”
Rohdale Tucker led Wayne County with 22 points.
The Tigers trailed by four in the first quarter, but tied the game, 23-23, at halftime and matched shot for shot in the third quarter.
However, Tucker started to hit the net, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the second half to keep the Yellow Jackets just out of reach. He also was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss, Hellgren was pleased with the boys’ performance, considering the majority of the starters were underclassmen.
“They are giving it their all and I cannot ask for anything more than that,” the coach said. “But when you dress six sophomores and three freshmen at the varsity level, it is going to be difficult situation to overcome. We are going to be all right here; we just have to show improvement and not worry about wins and losses right now.”
Taurus Dennard chipped in eight points.
Henry Blair added seven, Justin James had six points, Jyaunti Haggray scored four, Jason Hines chipped in three off a trey shot and Daryl Johnson added one point.
The Tigers were 1-9 overall and 1-3 in the region going into Friday.