THOMASVILLE — Brantley County’s Lady Herons and Herons each advanced in the Region 1A tournament here Tuesday at Thomasville High School to reach the semifinal round.
The third-seed Lady Herons (20-5) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2008 with a sixth consecutive victory ousting sixth-seed Jeff Davis (6-21) 44-21 February 17 in the opening round.
The victory was the third for BCHS over the Lady Yellow Jackets, who dropped nine of their last 10 games. Brantley County survived 45-34 in Hazlehurst January 10. The Lady Herons rolled to an 81-4 home massacre January 27.
The fourth-seed Herons (13-13) evened their record with a third straight win and fifth in six outings, eliminating sixth-seed Worth County (7-18), who entered with nine losses in 11 games.
Brantley County and the Rams split during the regular season with each winning on the road. BCHS recorded a 71-37 victory in Sylvester January 17 with Worth County notching a 66-37 win February 3 in Caney Bay.
First Round Lady Herons..........44 Jeff Davis ...............21 Brantley County only allowed the Lady Jackets to surpass five points in once over the four quarters in easing to the win.
Abbie Lee (two treys) posted a double-double scoring a game-high 13 points over the middle two quarters to go with a team-leading 13 rebounds. She also led the team with six steals and handed out two assists.
BCHS used a pair of treys from Chloe Johns (three total; 11 points, two assists, two steals, rebound) and Kirsten Smith (trey; five points, four rebounds, teamhigh three assists, steal) along with two free throws from Ella Highsmith (five points, six rebounds, steal) to lead 8-5. The Lady Herons widened the margin by intermission, outscoring Jeff Davis 9-5 for a 17-10 halftime advantage.
Brantley County continued to add distance to its margin during the third quarter, outpointing the Lady Yellow Jackets 15-6 to open up a 32-16 lead. BCHS closed the game outscoring Jeff Davis 12-5.
Anniston Bowers (trey; six rebounds, assist) joined Smith and Highsmith with five points. Tamiyah Coley (three rebounds, two steals) and Grace Carver (two rebounds) netted two points apiece. Edie Lowther (four rebounds) bagged a free throw.
First Round Herons.....................................75 Worth County ..........................65 Four Brantley County players reached double figures combining for 52 points to offset the 36-point explosion of the Rams’ Caleb Thomas.
Jayden Byron and Cole Courson each recorded a double-double. Byron (three treys; team-high tying four assists, steal) scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds. Courson (assist) finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Tristan Dyess (four treys; three assists, two rebounds) netted 14 points with Holton DePratter (five rebounds) contributing 10 points.
The Herons jumped out to an 18-14 lead by the end of the first period with Thomas (five treys for the game) scoring 10 of Worth County’s points. The fast pace continued in the second stanza with Brantley County holding a 19-16 scoring advantage while Thomas scored half of the Rams points to take a 37-30 lead to the locker room.
BCHS extended its margin to doubledigits by the end of the third quarter, outscoring the Rams 21-12 for a comfortable 58-42 lead as Thomas once again netted half of Worth County points. Thomas bagged 12 of the Ram’s 23 points in the final period, helping Worth County to a 23-17 scoring advantage.
Hayze Evans (two rebounds, two assists, steal) was next on the Brantley County scoring chart with eight points. Nathan Howell (assist) and Jayden Simmons (seven rebounds, team-high tying four assists) chipped in six points apiece. Tallan Collins (rebound, assist) added three points.
Worth County’s Jaydon Collier (trey) followed the lead of Thomas bagging 19 points.
