HAHIRA – It was tough sledding for the Valwood boys and girls basketball teams on Friday night in their region opener against Southland Friday night.
The Lady Valiants (3-4) fell behind early and never recovered as the Lady Raiders (12-2) ran away with a 65-26 victory. Meanwhile, the boys team (6-4) couldn’t overcome a huge second quarter by the Raiders (9-3) – losing 71-57.
Both teams were in the middle of a tough stretch of back-to-back games.
Both teams faced Echols County on Thursday night, with the girls winning 60-43 and the boys winning 71-38. The boys team also traveled to Douglas to face Citizens Christian on Saturday, falling 69-52.
Lady Valiants vs.
Southland
The Lady Raiders forced multiple turnovers to help build an early 16-4 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Valiants responded early in the second quarter with a short 5-2 run to make it 18-9.
However, Valwood would get no closer as Southland clamped down on defense. The Lady Raiders blew the game wide open with a 24-5 run to go into halftime up 42-14.
During much of the run, the Lady Valiants couldn’t buy a basket as the Lady Raiders forced many contested shots.
The deficit grew in the second half as Southland continued to pour it on, going up 56-24 in the third quarter. The Lady Raiders cruised in the fourth quarter as their bench outscored the Lady Valiants 9-2 in the final stanza.
Head coach Mike Patrick had no comment on the game.
Valiants vs. Southland
The Valiants and Raiders looked primed for a high-scoring affair early as freshman Jack Morris quickly made his presence known, knocking down five straight three-pointers to open the game.
Still, the Valiants couldn’t quite shake the Raiders in the first quarter as they went into the second quarter up just 17-15.
Valwood went stone cold in the second quarter while Southland got hot. Much like the Lady Raiders, the Raiders went on a 24-5 run to take a 39-22 lead into halftime.
Head coach Joel Stites credited the second quarter slide to his team’s youth.
“We’re young, we made some really silly turnovers that really hurt us,” Stites said. “The turnovers were a really big issue.”
The Valiants doubled their score in the third quarter as Morris again caught fire from range, knocking down three three-pointers. However, the Valiants were unable to cut into the deficit as they found themselves down 61-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
Valwood’s comeback attempt in the fourth was quickly thwarted by Southland, who had an answer every time the Valiants looked poised to go on a run.
While Stites was proud of Morris’ performance, he knew that the second quarter was the difference.
“We can’t get outscored in one quarter 24-5,” Stites said. “That was the difference maker. I thought Jack Morris played great. I thought he shot the ball incredibly well. I thought we did a good job getting him the ball. Problem is when only a couple other guys are scoring the whole first half, we got issues.”
Additionally, Stites credited Southland for their performance.
“They’re ranked in the top five for a reason,” Stites said. “I think they just wanted it more than we did tonight. I thought we played an incredibly good game last night. We just didn’t play the same kind of energy as we did last night.”
UP NEXT
Valwood travels to Albany to face Deerfield Windsor on Jan. 10. The girls tip off at 6:30 p.m., with the boys following up at 7:45 p.m.
Southland hosts Tiftarea Academy on Jan. 10. The girls tip off at 6:15 p.m. with the boys following up at 7:30 p.m.