Friday March 29th, 2024 12:45AM

Girls basketball: Lady Warriors pull away for 7-3A win over Bluff; Johnson falls to Apalachee

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

CLEVELAND — It wasn’t a complete game by any stretch, but White County girls coach Jarvis Davenport says he’ll take any win, especially in region play.

The Lady Warriors committed nearly 20 turnovers, missed six straight 3-pointers in the second half, yet they got a 10-0 third-quarter run to help them pull away for a 52-43 victory over Cherokee Bluff Friday night in a key early-season Region 7-3A matchup at home.

“We’re definitely not playing complete basketball right now,” Davenport said. “But we’ve been really good defensively the last week or so. Right now, any region win is a good win no matter how it looks.”

With their third straight win, the Lady Warriors (5-5, 3-1 Region 7-3A) stayed in a tie for second place in the region with East Forsyth and within striking distance of first place and No. 1-ranked Lumpkin County.

“It’s a tough region and every game is going to be a battle. We just have to keep working to get better every day,” Davenport said.

The defensive battle started early as both teams were forced into turnovers on each of their first two possessions. It wasn’t until White County’s Kinsey Dockery scored nearly three minutes in that anyone scratched out a basket.

That ignited a 6-0 run in 45 seconds as the Lady Warriors jumped out to a 6-0 lead. It took more than two more minutes for the Lady Bears to get on the board with a Timber Gaither basket, which started a 10-4 Bluff run over the final 3:10 of the period to tie the game at 10.

Bluff took its only lead of the half, 16-15, midway through the second on a Kaitlin Cook basket. But the Lady Warriors responded with an 8-2 spurt, highlighted by a Zoe Burkett 3-pointer, for a 23-18 lead.

Bluff’s Emilee Scott nailed a long 3-pointer to cut the lead to 23-21 but White County closed out the half with a fastbreak basket by Aaliyah Anderson at the buzzer for a 27-22 advantage at the half.

The Lady Bears (4-5, 2-2 Region 7-3A) came out on fire in the third quarter getting baskets from four different players in an 8-2 run to grab a 30-29 lead.

White County retook the lead on three free throws and Timber Gaither tied it at 32 for Cherokee Bluff on a basket with 2:54 left in the third. But five different White County players scored, capped by two free throws from Kylie Watkins, for a 42-32 Lady Warriors lead. Watkins added a basket for a 44-33 lead.

Taliah Gaither scored on a stick-back basket for Bluff to cut the lead to 50-43 in the fourth quarter but that’s as close as the Lady Bears could get.

Watkins, a freshman, paced White County with 10 points. Claire Beckman added 9 points and Kendyl Cantrell had 6 for the Lady Warriors.

Cook led Cherokee Bluff with a game-high 15 points. Taliah Gaither had 12 points and Timber Gaither 8 points for the Lady Bears.


APALACHEE 59,
JOHNSON 49

Alana Young scored 16 points to lead the Lady Knights in the loss to Apalachee at home on Friday. 

Sarah Johnson and Ashley Mintz added 14 points each. 

The Lady Wildcats outscored Johnson 18-9 in the first quarter to help them to the win. 

  • Associated Categories: Sports, High School Sports
  • Associated Tags: High school basketball, White County girls basketball, Cherokee Bluff girls basketball
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