Brantley County will limp into this week’s Region 1 tournament riding a three-game losing streak and losses in five of its last six game.
The Herons (14-9 overall, 6-6 region) closed out the final week of the season with region road losses at Worth County (14-10, 9-3), Brantley County (10-12, 5-7) and non-region foe Pierce County (8-13), BCHS owned home wins over all three. The 60-53 loss Tuesday, February 4 in Sylvester to the Rams followed a 58-39 home win January 18.
Brantley County fell 5244 Friday, February 7 in Alma to the Red Raiders. The Herons rolled 68-45 in the January 4 home matchup.
BCHS finished the week with a 51-45 setback Saturday, February February 8 in Bearville to PCHS. Brantley County escaped with a 57-52 home victory December 20.
The Herons have not recorded a season sweep of Pierce County since recording four consecutive sweeps from 2013-14 through 2016-17.
The region tournament begins this week. The fourth-seed Herons squared off with fifth-seed Jeff Davis Tuesday, February 11 at 5 p.m., in Fitzgerald. The winner advances to face tournament host top-seed Worth County Thursday, Febru-Photo ary 13 at 8:30 p.m.
The consolation and championship games are set for 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Friday, February 14 in Sylvester.
Worth County............ 60 Herons......................... 53 SYLVESTER - The host Rams pulled away from a two-point lead entering the final eight minutes to claim the win over BCHS.
Worth County held margins of two after one period, eight at intermission and two entering the fourth quarter.
“We played really hard,” said head coach Tripp Herrin. “We just came up a little short. Jayden (Simmons) and Kent (Thomas) played good defense on (Worth County’s) Ashton Williams, who came in averaging 30 points a game. We’ve had to make some adjustments without Tucker (O’Quinn, hand injury) and it’s a process. I’m proud of the effort.”
The Rams claimed a 1311 lead after one period. A 15-9 scoring advantage in the second stanza pushed the Worth County lead to 28-20 at intermission.
Brantley County found some offensive rhythm in the third period outscoring the Rams 16-10 to cut the margin to 38-36. Worth County regrouped outpointing the Herons 22-17 over the final eight minutes.
Patrick O’Quinn recorded a double-double to pace BCHS. He scored 17 points, corralled at team-high tyingio rebounds and handed out a team-high five assists. Simmons joined in the doubel-figure column scoring 14 points.
Courtlon Fuller scored seven points and tied O’Quinn for the rebound lead with 10. Elias Esser netted three points. Holton Depratter (eight rebounds) and Kent Thomas each bucketed two points.
Bacon County............. 52 Brantley County ....44 ALMA — Bacon County overcame a five-point deficit through three quarters outscoring the Herons by 13 points in the fourth period for the come-frombehind win.
“We had a hold of the game for three quarters,” Herrin said. “We had too many turnovers and missed free throws to hold off Bacon County.”
The Herons raced out to a 17-10 advantage in the opening stanza. They used a 107 scoring margin in the second period to build a double-digit halftime lead at 27-17.
Bacon County sliced the deficit in half during the third quarter outscoring the visitors 16-11 to trail 38-33. The Red Raiders outpoint Brantley County 19-6 in the final period.
Carson Jacobs scored a team-high nine points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds to lead the Herons. Fuller (eight rebounds) and Esser finished with eight points apiece.
Simmons and O’Quinn (team-high five assists) scored seven and six points respectively. Thomas chipped in four points with Depratter adding two points.
Pierce County ...............................51 Herons.........................................45 BEARVILLE — Pierce County rallied from a two-point deficit through three periods outscoring the Herons by eight points for the victory.
“That was a tough loss,” said Herrin. “It came down to hitting shots in the fourth quarter. Pierce hit some tough looks and we failed to convert. We battled hard.”
Shooting woes and turnovers plagued the two teams in the first quarter which ended in an 8-5 PCHS lead. Brantley County battled back to take a 16-15 lead in the final seconds before the Bears’ Marshon Stanford (10 points) drained a buzzer-beating three for an 18-16 halftime lead.
Brantley County surpassed its first-half production during the third quarter outpointing PCHS 18-14 to lead 34-32 entering the fourth period. The Bears closed on a 19-11 scoring run for the win.
O’Quinn (trey, five rebounds) was the lone double-figure scorer for the Herons finishing with a game-high 17 points. Esser scored eight points with Jacobs (team-high tying eight rebounds) adding seven points.
Simmons finished with five points. Hayden Stanley, Thomas, Fuller (eight rebounds), and Depratter scored two points.
