Brantley County had its basketball seasons end on the road in the first round of the Class A Division 1 state tournament.
The 18th-seed Lady Herons (17-9), who finished fourth in the Region 1 tournament, dropped a third consecutive game falling in Sandersville to 15th-seed Washington County (197), ranked 10th in the final regular season poll, who also finished fourth in the Region 2 tournament.
Region champion Worth County, seeded seventh, was the lone representative of six to advance. The Lady Rams survived region foe Bacon County, the 26th seed, 53-50. Fitzgerald, the 12th seed, fell 50-43 at home to 21st seed Bremen.
Thomasville, the 24th seed, lost a heartbreaking 91-90 overtime decision at ninth-seed Dodge County. Jeff Davis, the 32nd seed, was routed 75-26 by top-seed and second-ranked Fannin County.
The 23rd-seed Herons (14-11), who finished with a five-game losing streak and dropped seven of their final eight games, fell 51-33 in Blue Ridge to 10th-seed Fannin County (19-9).
The Rebels, making just their third state tournament appearance since their debut season of 1976, enter Round 2 having won nine of their last 11 games.
Worth County, the region champion, is the only Region 1 member to advance into the second round. The Rams, seeded fourth, blasted 29th-seed Washington County 8159.
Ninth-seed Fitzgerald fell 65-60 to visiting 24th-seed Swainsboro. Thomasville, seeded 19th, lost 71-59 at 14th-seed and eighth-ranked East Laurens. Jeff Davis, the 30th seed, was overpowered on the road by thirdseed Model 74-30. Bacon County, seeded 32nd, fell 82-50 at top-seed and second-ranked Southwest Macon.
No. 15 Wash. Co. ...60 No. 18 Lady Herons 48 SANDERSVILLE — Host Washington County outscored the Lady Herons by 15 points in the second and fourth quarters to advance.
The Lady Hawks held a slim 10-9 advantage at the end of the opening period. Washington County used a 17-8 scoring advantage during the second stanza to stretch the margin to 27-17 at intermission.
Brantley County sliced four points off the deficit during the third quarter outscoring the Lady Hawks 16-12 to trail 3933. The home team outscored the Lady Herons 21-15 over the final eight minutes.
Riana Dennard (two rebounds) led the Lady Herons 19 points. Summer Colley (two rebounds, assist, steal) followed with seven points.
Kimora Mincey (two rebounds, two steals, two assists) and Julie Carter (three rebounds, assist, steal) each scored five points.
Tamiyah Coley (rebound) followed with four points. Abbie Lee (four rebounds, three assists) and Ella Highsmith (game-high 13 rebounds, two assists) netted three points apiece. Ayaniah Davenport (five rebounds, steal) chipped in two points.
Washington County sophomore Jade Kitchens (two treys) poured in a game-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Classmate Aeria Hagans (trey) netted 16 points.
No. 10 Fannin County....................................51 No. 23 Herons...............................................33 BLUE RIDGE — Fannin County’s defense did not allow the Herons to score more than nine points in any of the final three periods in garnering the win.
“This was a tough way to close out a season,” said head coach Tripp Herrin. “Fannin has some size that made it tough for us on offense. Injuries really limited us over the last month. I’m still proud of my guys.”
The Rebels nearly doubled up Brantley County in the first period building a 19-10 advantage. Fannin County pushed the margin to double figures at intermission outscoring the Herons 11-9 in the second quarter to lead 30-19.
Brantley County outscored the Rebels 9-8 in the third stanza to cut the deficit to 38-28. Fannin County closed the game out outpointing the Herons 13-5 in the fourth period.
Holton Depratter was the lone double figure scorer for Brantley County finishing with 10 points. Patrick O’Quinn and Hayden Stanley followed with six points apiece.
Carson Jacobs and Tucker O’Quinn contributed five points and four points respectively. Kent Thomas bagged two points.
