THOMASVILLE — Following a pair of wins that brought them to 2-2 on the season, the Cairo Syrupmakers welcomed the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets on Friday for their first rivalry game of the young season.
“It was a scrappy game on both sides,” said Cairo head coach JJ Cooper. “Both teams competed and played hard.”
Though it was a close game with the Makers ending up on top 59-54, Cairo seemed to have good control over the contest thanks to some unreal numbers from Keshen Spence and Amari Powell. Spence and Powell combined for 41 of the Syrupmakers 59 points as Spence recorded 24 points, eight boards, three assists and four steals on the night. Meanwhile, Powell lit up the scoreboard as well, dropping 17 on the Jackets with six rebounds and seven assists.
Cairo’s defense was also phenomenal. While Colby Mullinax kept Central in the game with his 20 point performance, the rest of the Jackets scorers were held under ten points. Cairo also forced 17 turnovers, sticking to their philosophy of turning defense into offense.
This win over Central moves the Syrupmakers above .500 to 3-2 on the season. It’s their third win in a row and Cairo remains undefeated at home.
“We always talk to the kids about turning days into weeks and weeks into months,” said Cooper. “It started a couple of weeks ago when we got our first win, we were 0-2, then it’s just the snowball effect. It’s just a continuous grind each day trying to get better.”
Cairo will take on Thomasville at Thomasville tonight before heading to South Atlanta this weekend to compete in the Southern Metro Shootout at Eagles Landing High School.