Tift hoops fierce in twin clawing of Panthers

Published 9:00 am Saturday, December 17, 2022

TIFTON — Jimmya Cushion delivered a big blow against Sumter County Friday, Dec. 16. And, unlike her last name, that blow was not a soft one.

Cushion scored 30 in three quarters as the Tift County Lady Devils destroyed the visiting Lady Panthers, 71-23. In the nightcap, Tommy Blackshear’s Blue Devils won back the plaque in the Anthony Bateman Challenge in a 48-32 finish.

Lady Devils head coach Julie Conner was happily astonished when told Cushion’s points output after the girls game. It has been a few seasons since a Lady Devil has scored as much, the final game of the 2016-17 season when Audrey McElhaney dropped in 32.

It was a double-double for Cushion and a near triple-double. After re-watching the contest, assistant Anthony Dennard said Cushion finished with 10 steals and 7 assists.

“That was fun,” Conner said.

As Americus-Sumter, the Lady Panthers won the state championship in 2020. A much, much younger squad took the floor Friday in Tifton.

Sumter shockingly took in the game, 1-0, on a free throw 30 seconds in by Lauren Harris. That point stood for the rest of the quarter for the Lady Panthers and nearly two minutes more of the 2nd before they scored again.

Between those two episodes of a ball touching the inside of the net for the visitors, Tift ran up 25 points.

Cushion scored eight points in the first 3:45 of the game. Sumter didn’t hit eight points as a team until 6:21 in the 3rd period.

The rest of Tift’s lineup was just as deadly. Jalaya Miller, O’ashia Cushion and Jakembre Beckhom each had three points in the 1st, with Beckhom’s basket on a baseball pass that completed a fast break. It was 19-1 after at the quarter.

Tamia Aldridge scored the Lady Panthers’ first bucket at 6:08 in the 2nd. Tift promptly reeled off 13 more points before they scored again.

Jimmya Cushion and Jazyiah Johnson each hit 3-pointers. Makayla Bryant was fouled on a shot behind the line in the last minute. She made all three foul shots to go up 43-4.

Sumter’s D’eria Clark banked in a 3 to finish the half.

The 3rd quarter was only slightly kinder to Sumter as the Lady Devils mixed and matched lineups. Jimmya Cushion, who had 22 points at the half, scored her 30th on a steal with three minutes left.

The Lady Devils’ other Cushions were hitting, too. O’ashia put in a pair from behind the arc and Jimeylah scored 10 of her 12 points.

Ahead 67-15, the 4th was played under advanced mercy rules. Shermaine Sutton got into the scoring act, meaning nine of the 10 available players scored points.

The Cushions excelled again for the Lady Devils with 51 of their 71 points. Harris finished with 8 points for Sumter.

DEVILS 48, SUMTER 32

Before and after the game, Blackshear talked about the significance of the Anthony Bateman Challenge. It’s a game that means much to both himself and Johnny Genwright, the former Tift player coaching Sumter.

Blackshear admitted that not everything was clicking on offense for the Blue Devils, but his defense was so good that Sumter never challenged after the first three minutes.

“The defense was solid all night,” he said.

Like the girls game, the Panthers scored first, a 3 by D.J. Hurley. Things quickly went south from there. Tift went ahead 5-3 on back-to-back Christian Jones baskets and never trailed again.

Five minutes in, Kobe Farrie made it 15-3. When McKyler Horne cleaned up the glass at the buzzer, the score was 19-5.

The sides played fairly evenly for the remaining 24 minutes.

Henry Gebhart scored twice in the 2nd as the lead ticked up to 15 points, which settled at 24-11 at intermission.

The peak of the lead was 18 points, 37-19, late in the 3rd on Will Clark free throws. Clark played with a mouthguard after losing part of a tooth against Westover three days earlier.

Fouls began adding up for both squads in the 4th, quicker than points.

Devon Dowdell cut Tift’s lead to 37-23 at 6:20 in the 4th, but though the locals went cold for five minutes spanning the 3rd and 4th frames, Sumter was only as hot as a slushie. In the same amount of time, the Panthers notched four points.

Jones got the ship going again with points on an offensive rebound. Soon, his teammates began picking it up — free throws for Gebhart and Horne before Clark and Jones scored from the field.

Jones finished with 12 points, the only player from either team to hit double-digits. Blackshear praised his continued development after the game.

“He rebounded the ball well, he moved his feet on defense,” Blackshear said. “I was very pleased with him.”

Gebhart and Clark scored 9 apiece, with Tyler Parker at 8. Pope led Sumter with 8 points. Gebhart was also fantastic defensively. Blackshear said he held Sumter’s best player to 2 points.