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 52-44 Friday, February 7 in Alma to the Red Raiders. The Herons rolled 68-45 in the January 4 home matchup.
The region tournament begins this week. The fourth-seed Herons squared off with fifthseed Jeff Davis Tuesday, February 11 at 5 p.m., in Fitzgerald. The winner advances to face tournament host top-seed Worth County Thursday, February 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 tying10 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-from-behind 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 10-7 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.
