Ware County split a pair of weekend affairs falling on the road in its Region 1AAAA opener at Warner Robins and beating visiting Vidalia.
The Gators (10-4 overall, 0-1 region) dropped a 72-65 decision Friday, January 3 to the Demons. Warner Robins (7-4, 1-0) has captured seven straight in the series dating back to 2016 with the first six by double digits.
Ware County bounced back Saturday to finish the season sweep of the Indians (11-4) winning a ninth consecutive home game 60-32 while ending Vidalia’s fivegame winning streak. The Gators notched a 69-60 victory in the December 3 matchup in Vidalia.
The highlight of Saturday’s victory was senior Jarvis Wright reaching the 2,000-point mark for his career. Wright, a Morehead State University signee, reached the mark in the first half.
Ware County has won eight of its 10 games by 25 points or more this season.
The Gators hosted region foe New Hampstead Tuesday (January 7) and travels Friday, January 10 to regionmate Perry. Ware County will participate Saturday, January 11 in the Georgia Interstate Classic in Athens.
The Gators visit Wayne County Tuesday, January 11 in a region matchup and host Benedictine at 6 p.m., Friday, January 17.
Warner Robins........72 Gators......................65
WARNER ROBINS — The host Demons overcame a nine-point halftime deficit outscoring Ware County by 16 points during the final two periods to rally for the win.
The Gators stormed out to a 24-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. Warner Robins chipped one point off the deficit in the second stanza outscoring the visitors 17-16 to trail 40-31 at the break.
The Demons continued chipping away at the deficit in the third period outpointing Ware County 2015 to climb to within 55-51. They closed the game with a 21-10 scoring advantage.
Shaun McClam (five treys, four in first half) tied for game-high scoring laurels with 19 points. Tayshaun Franklin scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half.
Wright (two threes) followed with 10 points. Darius Ward and Tezhaun Bolds (two treys) added nine points and eight points respectively. Dedrick Jackson contributed six points.
The Warner Robins trio of Gabe Jacobs (19 points), D.J. Strickland (18 points) and Justin Hill (16 points) combined for 53 points.
Gators .....................61 Vidalia ....................36
Ware County scored the first basket of the game and never trailed in rolling over the Indians.
Jackson claimed gamehigh scoring honors finishing with 21 points off the bench. Wright (two treys) netted 14 pushing his career total to 2,006 points.
The Gators built a 16-5 lead over the first eight minutes. They used a 16-10 scoring advantage in the second period to open up a 32-15 halftime lead.
Ware County continued to pad its margin in the third quarter outscoring the Indians 14-8 to take a 46-23 lead into the final period. The Gators tacked on two more points to its advantage outscoring Vidalia 15-13 in the fourth stanza.
Franklin followed the lead of Jackson and Wright netting eight points. Ward added six points while Masiyer McKey and Bolds contributed four points apiece. Elan Jones and McClam each bucketed a basket.
