Ware County took a pair of Region 3-AAAAA games Tuesday night over Bradwell Institute. The Lady Gators needed an extra frame to defeat Bradwell’s girls 42-34 in overtime.
Ware County took an early commanding lead in the night cap, but the Tigers clawed back into the game, cutting Ware’s lead to single digits in the third quarter. A Gator surge in the fourth quarter gave Ware a convincing 80-54 victory.
Friday night, the Tigers suffered more region losses as the Lady Tigers fell 55-39 at Effingham County. The Tiger boys lost 54-37 to the Rebels.
Ware County 42, Bradwell 34 OT (girls)
Bradwell’s Lady Tigers took an early lead in the first quarter and continued to add to it in the second. Establishing an 11-point deficit over Ware County it looked like the Lady Tigers were on the way to their 10th win.
However, in the second half, Bradwell continued to get open looks at the basket, but the ball couldn’t find the net. Ware was able to take advantage of the Lady Tigers’ offensive woes and kept chipping away, hitting some key three pointers down the stretch, including one to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
Both teams matched each other basket for basket in the final quarter. Ware County scored in the final seconds and Bradwell had the ball last.
The Lady Tigers decided to hold the ball to send the game to overtime.
After the Lady Tigers scored in overtime, Ware County hit a pair of three pointers giving them a comfortable lead throughout over.
Rayona Shuman and Esperanza Castro led the Lady Tigers in scoring with seven points each. Journae Young and Ashanti Harris pitched in six points each.
Ware County moved one game closer to .500 for the season at 8-9. Friday, the Lady Tigers lost at Effingham County 55-39. The Lady Tigers dropped one game below .500 at 9-11 overall and 2-8 in the region. The final stats from Friday’s game was not available by press time.
Ware County 80, Bradwell 54 (boys)
The Ware County Gators opened with a barrage of offense from the tip off through the first quarter.
Ware had a decided height advantage over the Tigers allowing the Gators to score at will and control the boards on both ends of the court.
A tough defense pushed the Tigers further out, making a patterned offense tougher and giving Ware County another advantage in steals.
Trailing 20-6 after the opening stanza, Bradwell started to climb into the game in the second quarter.
Tiger guard Darryll Johnson had eight of his 10 points in the second quarter that helped fuel a 21-point run by the Tigers, cutting Ware’s lead to 36-27 at halftime.
Bradwell kept battling in the third, eventually narrowing Ware’s lead to single digits, but the Gators found its offense again and scored 44 points in the second half to rout the Tigers.
Tarrus Dennard finished with a game-high 14 points. Jaylon McNair put in eight points and De’Shawn Doleman contributed six.
Ware County moves closer to .500 on the season at 8-10.
Friday, the Tigers lost 54-37 at Effingham County. Bradwell dropped to 5-14 on the year. They are 1-9 in region play.
BI girls scoring Rayona Shuman 7, Esperanza Castro 7, Journae Young 6, Ashanti Harris 6, Brianna Johnson 5, Alyssa McDuffie 3
BI boys scoring — Tarrus Dennard 14, Daryyll Johnson 10, Jaylon McNair 8, De’Shawn Doleman 6, Deion Stewart 5, Jordan Alexander 4, Anthony Vicente 3, KJ Milner 2, Qualeek Keith 2.
Patty Leon contributed to this report.