Lady Devils fall in region championship game, Blue Devils earn 3rd

Published 8:00 am Saturday, February 18, 2023

LEESBURG — The Veterans Lady Warhawks prevented a last-second Tift County shot attempt and held on to win the girls Region 1-6A basketball championship Friday, Feb. 17, 49-48.

Tift’s Lady Devils, No. 2 in the region, will host a first round state tournament game. Grovetown will be the opponent after winning the Region 2-6A consolation game over Glynn Academy.

There was good news for Tift County earlier in the day. McKyler Horne beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer from the parking lot and the Blue Devils fended off Houston County for third place, 54-48. They will play on the road to open state, either at Grovetown or Brunswick.

Both Tift games were held at Lee County High.

Regular season games were split between the Lady Devils and Veterans. Not surprisingly, round 3 was very close from start to finish.

The score was 37-37 going into the 4th quarter.

Jakembre Beckhom delivered the first points, returning an offensive rebound, but a 3-pointer and a steal put Veterans ahead 42-39.

Tift tied a minute later, a free throw by Jalaya Miller at 6:27 and, before the Lady Warhawks could attempt an inbounds pass, a technical foul was called against them for having six players on the floor. O’ashia Cushion made both free throws.

It became even tighter. No team led by more than two points the rest of the way.

Jimmya Cushion finished a three-point play to go ahead 46-44 at 4:02. Soon, Tift was dealt a big blow when Makayla Bryant went down at 3:32 after taking a charge.

Bryant went off the court holding her head. She returned to the bench with an icepack on her head but did not reenter the game. Hours after the game, head coach Julie Conner didn’t have an update on her status.

On the other end, Jalaya Miller blocked a shot, but Gabby Minus recovered the tip and scored for a tie.

Miller put the Lady Devils in front again, 48-46, with a reverse layup with 43 seconds left.

Veterans did not fold.

With 25 seconds to go, Rionna Byrd was fouled while making a jumper. She hit the free throw and the Lady Warhawks went up 49-48.

Veterans rebounded a Tift shot. Time was called after and on the attempted long inbounds throw, Jimmya Cushion picked it off. The Lady Devils tried a 3-pointer, but Byrd blocked it six rows deep.

Tift lost possession on an inside pass and the Lady Warhawks tied it up, getting possession with less than second left. Tift tipped another inbounds pass, but didn’t have enough time to catch and shoot.

Veterans led for most of the opening quarter, but Tift ended it with a 5-0 run, Jimmya Cushion and O’ashia Cushion scoring. They’d have a bigger run in the 2nd.

In the middle of the 2nd, 3-pointers rained from the sky. Jimmya Cushion hit a pair and Bryant buried another.

At their peak, the Lady Devils were up 21-11 but Veterans, showing the poise that has carried them all year, scored eight of the next 10.

Tift’s lead was down to 25-19 at the break.

Three minutes into the 3rd, Veterans was up again, courtesy of a 3 by by Des’teyn Seaton. She scored seven points in the stanza. Faith Hillmon scored in the last minute to tie it at 37.

Jimmya Cushion scored 16 points for Tift. O’ashia Cushion netted 10, Miller had 8 and Hillmon scored 7 before fouling out early in the 4th.

Minus and Nariah Nelson each scored 14 to lead the Lady Warhawks. Seaton’s big quarter put her at 10 for the night.

BLUE DEVILS 54, HOUSTON 48

Horne’s 3-pointer was actually a little closer than the parking lot, but not by much.

Landen Wright banked in a 3-pointer for Houston with 5 seconds remaining. Horne took the inbounds pass, dribbled once and launched from Houston’s free throw line.

The low liner swished in and the Devils had an extra spring in their step going to the locker room. Horne’s shot was not only a rarity for anyone, it gave Tift a 22-21 lead.

Houston, however, seemed to be sparked more initially, holding the advantage of the 3rd.

At 4:43, Kameron Plummer put the Bears up 28-24. But as they usually do in the 2nd halves, Tift worked its way back ahead and drained their opponents.

Friday’s wasn’t the biggest defensive stop they made of 2022-23; the Bears scored 18 points in the 4th quarter. Tift even gave up nine points in the final minute.

However, Houston made them sweat too heavily, as the Blue Devils kept getting to the free throw line. The Bears had no shot once Tift had the ball in the hands of its preferred shooters.

Kobe Farrie’s 3-pointer at 3:12 in the 3rd gave the Devils a 29-28 lead. They wouldn’t be topped again. Ty’Quan Mills had a put-back late in the period and Tift went into the 4th up 31-30.

Tyler Parker’s dunk and a drive by Will Clark expanded the score to 35-30 two minutes into the 4th.

An eight-point run made it 45-35 with 1:58 remaining. Houston worked its way back in a bit, Malachi Jackson cutting it to 45-39 at 1:05.

The fouls began there, starting with Farrie at the line for a one-and-one. He sank both.

Antwun Zeigler made a 3 for 47-42. Parker made one and got a defensive rebound at the other end.

The Bears thought they had a lucky break when two free throws missed but Clark got an offensive rebound and, second later, Henry Gebhart fed Christian Jones for a massive slam.

Jackson again made it five points with 19 seconds left and Plummer got it to 52-48 with 4 seconds to go. Between and after, though, Gebhart and Clark made four free throw attempts to ice the result.

Before Horne’s 3-pointer, Tift had to work its way out of a six-point deficit that ended the 1st, 14-8. They did so by shutting out the Bears for the first 4:30 of the 2nd, going ahead 15-14 on a hook shot by Jones.

Horne and Jones scored 10 apiece for the Blue Devils, who won their 20th game of the year. Clark contributed 9, with Farrie and Gebhart at 7 each.

Jackson scored 16 points and Plummer checked in with 13.