Tift hoops teams pick up 10th wins over Northside

Published 1:30 pm Saturday, January 14, 2023

TIFTON — Tift County may want to schedule more basketball games for Friday the 13th. In opposite of the legend, the date only brought them good luck against Northside of Warner Robins.

Each Tift squad won their 10th game of the 2022-23 campaign and increased their record to 2-1 in Region 1-6A. It was another blowout for the Lady Devils, 74-25, and the Blue Devils sidestepped a 3rd quarter Eagles’ run for a 58-44 victory.

Both games did have bizarre starts, however. Northside’s boys team was late arriving to Tifton and only began warming up with 8:40 before tip-off. There was no opening tip in the girls’ contest. O’ashia Cushion began the contest by making two technical fouls. After the game, an official said the technical foul was for an incorrect number in the scorebook.

Head coach Tommy Blackshear saw his Blue Devils in a familiar position Friday. In barely two minutes late in the 3rd quarter, Northside cut a 14-point deficit to 8 points.

More than once this year, Blackshear has watched that type of run lead to more and more momentum and doom his team. Instead, this time, Henry Gebhart assisted Kobe Farrie on a 3-pointer. A defensive stop and sixteen seconds later, Farrie come through again with a short jumper.

The lead restored to 13 points, the Devils never let it dip below 12 again.

“We responded this time,” said Blackshear. “We’ve been working on it mentally, trying to change their mindset from worrying about making mistakes to keep playing defense,” not letting one error cascade. “What really has lost the games, is when we make those mistakes, we give up 25-30 points in one quarter, something we don’t normally do.”

In contrast, Northside did the slipping. Right after Farrie’s bucket, the Eagles went to the free throw line for two shots.

The first of these was missed. Before the second could even be attempted a Northside foot went into the paint and the shot was called off for a lane violation.

Kayden Taylor did make one free throw with 22 seconds to go in the 3rd, but Tift only built. Working the ball around, the locals got everything they wanted.

With five seconds, it went to Gebhart who spun and shot, drawing a foul at two seconds. One of their most automatic from the stripe, Gebhart made both for a 47-33 advantage.

“Back in control,” he said. “It’s the kind of stuff we have to do.”

Already firmly in control to start the 4th, Davis Byrnes tipped in an offensive rebound and Will Clark made one from the line. Northside spent the first two minutes completely silent, finally getting a runner by Ricardo Jones to fall.

The Eagles’ last three baskets were from behind the arc. Tift had none from that distance in the period, but responded to all three. Christian Jones delivered a massive dunk at 4:34. Jones and Byrnes blocked Northside shots in consecutive possessions as Clark and Jones finished scoring.

Blackshear could only wonder if Northside thought the girls game started an hour later than it did. Some teams start their varsity weekend contests at 7 p.m. Tift prefers 6 p.m. for an earlier finish.

Word reached Tift officials that Northside was late arriving in the 4th quarter of the girls game, which was already a six-minute quarter because of the mercy rule. The Blue Devils spent nearly half of the 15-minute warm-up period alone before the Eagles finally roosted.

The detriments of a late arrival and shortened time to get loose were not immediately evident. Kevon Milton and Duke McClinton matched the Devils basket for basket in the opening four minutes for a 7-7 tie.

Farrie broke that tie with a jumper off a pass from Ty’Quan Mills. Tyler Parker’s short shot built that to 11-7. McKyler Horne finished the quarter with an easy basket after Northside missed two from the stripe. The score went to 15-7 to open the 2nd on a Malachi Evans drive.

Jones made two quick 3s, the last closing the gap to 16-15 at 6:07. Parker and Damien Dee traded baskets. Clark’s turnaround jumper at 5:37 made it 20-17. A sea change followed. Both teams were quiet for the next 2:30, but when the fury picked up again, it was all Blue Devils. And, like later in the game, it was Farrie leading it off.

Farrie doubled the lead with a 3-pointer. Northside came up empty and Clark pushed the play ahead with a long pass. However, it was a bit short and a jumping Parker reached a hand over an Eagle in the paint to tip it to someone in a better position. It initially went to Jones, who immediately spotted someone better, batting it to Farrie, who drove in for two more points and a huge ovation from the crowd.

Two more jumpers by Clark combated a Jordan Gaines 3-pointer. It was 30-20 at the half.

Jones, Gebhart and Byrnes combined for a 6-2 run to open half No. 2. The 14-point lead was solid for the first four minutes. Chaston Brown put back in an offensive rebound at 2:43, with Jones and Brown seemingly setting up Northside for even more than the 6-0 run. But Tift was having none of that and quickly switched back the momentum.

Farrie’s 12 led a well-balanced offense. Clark and Gebhart contributed 12 — with Gebhart 7-for-7 at the line — and Jones scored 10 points. “Four in double figures,” said Blackshear. “That’s good.”

Jones’ led the Eagles’ attack with 14. Milton scored 11.

The Blue Devils are 10-4 for the year, 2-1 in Region 1-6A.

LADY DEVILS 74, NORTHSIDE 25

Five seconds after she hit the opening technical free throws, O’ashia Cushion made a 3-pointer directly off an inbounds pass. Northside trailed 5-0 before they touched the ball and 7-0 before they even took their first shot.

Though the Lady Eagles made that first shot — Taylor Johnson was fouled on a made basket under the goal — they had few opportunities after.

Tift cut off the visitors so successfully, that none of their guards scored any points until the 3rd quarter.

Not that their forwards were having much success, either. The Lady Devils were ahead 29-8 after eight minutes, 44-12 at intermission.

The Lady Devils caused chaos everywhere.

Already up 16-6, they forced five-second calls on two straight Northside possessions. One was on a player holding the ball, the other being on an attempted inbounds.

Jimmya Cushion scored 10 points in the opening frame, hitting two of the five 3-pointers Tift made in that span. Johnson scored all 8 for the Lady Eagles and finished with 14 of their 25 points for the night.

Tift began opening up further in the 2nd quarter, ascending to the 30-point lead necessary for a 4th quarter mercy rule with 1:49 left, Jimmya Cushion assisting Jimeylah Cushion.

After closing the half on a 13-2 run, Tift had the first 10 points of the 3rd quarter. Faith Hilmon put the team up 40 points, 52-12, at 5:46.

Northside finally saw a guard score in the 3rd, a free throw, then a drive to the basket by Camiya Hudson. Of course, Tift answered that with two baskets by Jalaya Miller from close range. Jimeylah Cushion ended the quarter with a score, the 62-17, 45-point lead being more than enough to shorten the clock to 6 minutes in the 4th.

The Lady Devils slowed the pace in the 4th considerably, but flirted with a 50-point lead throughout. A 6-0 run by Jimmya Cushion and Hillmon got them there for 15 seconds before Northside scored the next four points.

Five players reached at least 10 points for the Lady Devils, now 10-4 for the year, 2-1 in Region 1-6A.

Jimmya Cushion scored 22 points. Through three periods, she had 18 points to the Lady Eagles’ 17. The Cushion trio rounded out with 12 points for Jimeylah and 11 for O’ashia. Trinity Hill, earning her first start, and Jalaya Miller scored 10 points each.

After Johnson’s 14, Mill Covington scored 4 for Northside.

Tift is to play Lee County Saturday night, with a non-region home game against Cook Jan. 17. The Blue Devils and Lady Devils are to travel to Houston County Jan. 20.

Earlier in the week, Colquitt County called off games in Moultrie out of precaution because of an incident out of school. As of Friday, Blackshear said the games had not been rescheduled.

The sides are still scheduled to play in Tifton Feb. 7.