A fourth quarter rally Saturday capped a 3-0 work week and helped Ware County’s Lady Gators remain perfect on the season.
The Lady Gators (10-0) opened the busy week with an easy 70-25 win Tuesday, December 10 in Pearson against Atkinson County to complete the season sweep. Ware County captured the November 19 home meeting 68-25.
Ware County overcame a slugglish first period Friday, December 13 in turning back homestanding Valdosta 55-35 for the season sweep. The Lady Gators beat Valdosta 67-31 at home November 21.
The Lady Gators survived Saturday, December 14 with a second two-point decision over Glynn Academy winning 42-40. Ware County slipped past the Lady Red Terrors 49-47 in overtime December 6 in Brunswick.
The Lady Gators will close out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule hosting Charlton County Friday, December 20 and Clinch County Saturday, December 21.
No. 8 Lady Gators ..............70 Atkinson County ................25 PEARSON — A 50-point first half was highlighted by a 31-point second quarter as the Lady Gators rolled.
Baily Denton led a trio of doublefigure scorers netting a career-high 19 points. Charlacia Jones (teamhigh six rebounds) was next with 14 points. Lydia Munford netted 11 points.
Ware County raced out to a double- digit advantage in the opening eight minutes grabbing a 19-8 lead. The Lady Gators blew the game open in the second stanza outscoring Atco 31-4 in building a 50-12 halftime margin.
The scoring pace slowed considerably for Ware County over the final two periods. The Lady Gators outpointed the home team 12-7 in the third quarter to stretch the margin to 62-19. They closed the game with an 8-6 scoring advantage for the final 45-point margin.
Seven other players reached the scoring column for Ware County. Shardell Vickers (four rebounds) contributed seven points with Alexis McNeil (team-high seven assists) chipping in five points.
Rhianna Mateyka (three rebounds, two assists, steal) and Lauren Belle each bagged four points. Bre Hill, Larissa Revis and Charmaine Farrell finished with two points apiece.
No. 7 Lady Gators...............55 Valdosta.............................35 VALDOSTA — Ware County used a big second quarter to pull away from a five-point lead and knock off the Lady Wildcats.
Leading just 7-2 at the end of the first period, the Lady Gators used a 24-13 scoring advantage in the second quarter to open up some breathing room at 31-15 heading to the locker room.
Valdosta chipped two points off the deficit in the third stanza outscoring the Lady Gators 12-10 to trail 41-27. Ware County outpointed the Lady Wildcats 14-8 over the final eight minutes to get the victory.
Denton led three players in double figures finishing with 13 points. Jones and Muford (four treys) followed with 12 points each.
Kyla McKelvin chipped in six points. McNeal (trey) and Vickers netted five points and four points respectively. Molly Smith added three points.
No. 7 Lady Gators...............42 Glynn Academy..................40 McNeal’s drained two free throws with four seconds remaining breaking a 40-all tie to lift the Lady Gators past Glynn Academy.
McNeal (four points, 4-of-4 at the charity stripe, six rebounds, three assists) drove baseline with her fivefoot floater hitting the side of the rim. She garnered the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback.
Glynn Academy scored two baskets to lead 38-34 after the Lady Gators had tied the score on a three from Denton (12 points, three threes). Denton’s second trey of the quarter tied the score at 38-apiece.
Trailing 40-38, Ware County knotted the score at 40-all with 44.6 seconds remaining. A Glynn Academy turnover gave the Lady Gators a chance to win in the final 19.4 seconds.
The Lady Terrors led pretty much all night starting with a 10-8 first quarter advantage. They outscored Ware County 14-10 in the second period for a 24-18 halftime lead.
The margin grew to eight in the third period eventually settling at seven with the Lady Gators using an 11-10 scoring advantage to trail 3429. Ware County scored the first five points to draw even and finished the quarter outscoring the visitors 13-6 to escape.
Jones recorded a double-double scoring a game-high 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds and a steal. Vickers (seven rebounds) netted seven points with Mateyka (four rebounds) finishing with two points.