HAHIRA — The Valwood basketball teams welcomed the Southland Academy Raiders to Eager Sports Center on Friday night. Both teams looked to push their win streaks to two games after sweeping Byne Christian on Thursday night in Albany.
The Valiants did increase that win streak, a 71-68 victory over the Raiders, but the Lady Valiants fell in a 58-21 contest.
Lady Valiants
Fresh off of a 62-16 win over Byne Christian, the Lady Valiants looked to avenge their 37-9 loss to Southland Academy in early January.
The scoring started early for Valwood with Caylee Collins scoring four seconds into the game off of an assist from Bella Shaw. Collins drew a foul on the play, but was unable to sink the free throw. The Lady Raiders quickly answered back and took the lead after successfully draining two 3-pointers within 23 seconds to go ahead 6-2.
After going 1-for-2 at the line and making a 3-pointer off of an assist from Lacy Ann McLeod, Collins helped the Lady Valiants tie the game up 6-6 with 6:27 to go in the first.
With 5:25 to go in the 1st, the Lady Raiders took the lead again after sinking a two-point basket, sparking a 7-0 run to go up 13-6 late in the quarter. With 1:56 left in the first, Collins scored her eighth point of the night after going 2-for-2 at the line to cut the Raider lead down to 5. To end the first quarter, the Raiders went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-8 lead.
Southland continued to add to their point total early in the second, scoring the next six points of the game to push the lead to 21. With 5:30 to go in the half, Griner scored the next Lady Valiant basket off of an assist from Shaw off the inbound to cut the score to 27-10.
Midway through the second, Southland went on their third big run of the game, this time scoring 10 straight to go up 37-10 with less than three minutes to play in the
McLeod scored her first points of the game in the period off of an assist from Collins with around one minute to go. With 10 seconds left in the half, the Lady Raiders pushed the lead to 41-14.
Southland opened the third quarter with an 8-0, pushing the lead to 49-14. Collins broke that streak at the free throw line, but the Lady Raiders remained hot, going up 55-15.
At 1:25 to go in the third, Collins drew a foul, going from 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. With 41 seconds left in the quarter, the Lady Raiders scored the final basket of the quarter to take a 57-17 lead.
With the game out of reach for the Lady Valiants, a six-minute fourth quarter took place, giving both teams a chance to get the young players some playing time. To close the game out, the Lady Valiants scored the final four points with Bryce Carter going 2-for-2 from the free-throw line with 1:30 left in the fourth and Lizzy Eager scoring a two-pointer with 50 seconds left in the game.
Collins led the team with 11 points, with Griner coming in second with 4. The Lady Valiants fell to 4-7 (0-3 in District 3-AAA) on the season after the 58-21 loss to Southland.
Valiants
Coming off of a 61-56 win against Byne Christian, the Valiants looked to secure a sweep of Southland Academy after walking away with an eight-point win earlier this month.
Like the girls game, the first points of the game came quickly, this time with Southland scoring with 7:37 to go in the first. Seven seconds later, a 3-pointer from Jack Morris gave the Valiants the lead, 3-2. The Valiants then went on a 5-0 run, including a basket from Chase Helfer off of an assist from Ethan Owens and another 3-pointer from Morris.
With 5:54 in the first, the Raiders cut the lead to 8-4 after a basket. On the next possession, Owens connected with Helfer again to push the Valiant lead back to six. At 5:19, Triston White forced a Valiant turnover and would find a wide-open Morris for his third 3-pointer in the opening period.
Midway through the first, Helfer scored a three-point play after being fouled on a made basket. Forcing a steal on the next Raiders possession,Cort Kurrie got in on the action, hitting a floater to push the Valwood lead to 18-4 with 4:05 left in the frame.
Southland broke up the Valiants’ 8-0 with a three, but Kurrie made two quick shots to go back up 15 points. A run by the Raiders cut some into the lead, but Valwood was ahead 22-14 at period’s end.
Richard Hunter and Morris helped the Valiants to a 27-21 lead, Morris on a three from the midcourt logo. Southland cut the score to 29-26 before Connor Hutto got his first basket of the night. Under a minute to go in the half, De’Mar Riley went 1-of-2 at the line. Valwood led at the half, 32-30.
The Raiders knotted the score at the beginning of the third and the game was tight for all of the quarter. Hunter broke ties of 34-34 and 40-40 with triples. Later, Helfer and White led a short run to ahead 47-43.
To close out the quarter, the Valiants scored the final three points to take the 53-46 lead into the fourth after a Hutto basket off of an assist from Riley and White going 1-for-2 at the stripe.
Southland hit four quick points to start the fourth, cutting the lead back down to four points. Hunter pushed it back up on a short basket, then the Raiders tied it 55-55 with 5:25 remaining.
The lead went back-and-forth. Hunter made free throws, then Owens put Valwood ahea 61-59 after the Raiders scored in between. The lead became four points via Helfer, then Riley increased it slightly, to 65-60 at the stripe.
Free throws by Southland cut it to three, though Valwood responded quickly with a 4-0 run by White on a Helfter assist, then Helfer himself after a steal with about two minutes left.
With 16.6 seconds left, Valwood was ahead 69-65 after forcing two bad 3-point attempts from the Raiders Three fouls to Helfer made the lead 70-68 with 12.6 seconds to go.
After getting the ball back, Southland hit a deep 3-pointer to bring the game within 2, but after a Helfer free throw pushed it back to a three-point game with 4.8 ticks, Valwood walked away with a 71-68 victory after forcing a turnover on the final Raider possession.
Helfer led the team with 20 points, with Richard Hunter coming in second in scoring 14. The Valiants moved to 9-5 (2-1 district) on the season after the close victory.
Both teams were to be in action on Monday as they traveled to Dawson to take on the Terrell Academy Eagles (7-8 boys, 10-4 girls). The Valiants will play at home on Tuesday, January 23rd as they welcome the Brookwood Warriors (17-2 Boys / 12-3 Girls) to the Eager Sports Center.