Pierce County High School’s basketball teams had their seasons end Tuesday in the first round of the Class AA state tournament.
The Lady Bears (5-20), who entered as the 31st-seed per the GHSA power rankings after a fourth-place finish at the Region 3 tournament, fell 72-26 in Augusta to top-ranked and secondseed Josey (22-3) of Region 4. The victory was the ninth straight and 14th in 15 games for the 2024 state runner-up Lady Eagles.
Only two of Region 3’s four teams invited to the field of 32 advanced. Ninth-ranked region champion Tattnall County, seeded fourth, routed fellow regionmate Cook 59-18. The Lady Hornets were seeded 29th. Tattnall County lost 43-38 at home Saturday, February 22 to 13th-seed Carver-Columbus.
Region runner-up Appling County, the 11th seed, held off 22nd-seed Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 58-55. The Lady Pirates fell 61-40 Saturday to sixth-seed Columbia.
The 27th-seed Bears (9-15), who finished 6-3 despite losing two of their final three games, fell 87-61 to sixth-seed Union County (23-5), ranked seventh, in Blairsville. The Panthers, winners in six of their last seven outings, finished as the runnerup in Region 7.
Tenth-ranked Tattnall County, the region champion and seeded second, took down 31st-seed Glenn Hills 70-56. The Warriors followed Saturday, February 22 with a 43-41 win over 15th-seed Sumter County.
Region runner-up Crisp County, seeded ninth, knocked off 24th seed Shaw 72-40. The Cougars fell 51-49 Saturday to eighth-seed Spencer.
Third-seed Morgan County, ranked fifth, ousted 30th-seed Appling County 80-44.
No. 2 Josey .....................72 No. 31 Lady Bears...........26 AUGUSTA — The traditionrich Lady Eagles exploded to a 31-point lead after eight minutes and coasted past PCHS.
Josey, which has posted eight straight 20-plus win seasons, recorded its sixth 30-point quarter (third in first period) of the season in grabbing a 36-5 first stanza lead. Keri Fluellen, who claimed game-high scoring honors, scored all 17 of her points in the first eight minutes.
The Lady Eagles outpointed Pierce County 11-4 in the second period in opening up a 47-9 halftime advantage. The point total tied Josey’s second-highest mark behind a 52-point half against region foe Glenn Hills.
Pierce County surpassed its first half point total during the third period in getting outscored 18-11 to trail 65-20. The Lady Eagles clipped PCHS 7-6 during the “mercy rule” final quarter.
Claire Murray was the lone double figure scorer for the Lady Bears finishing with 14 points. Ansley Hutchinson and Sahara Minott followed with four points and three points respectively.
Shakira Smith and Isabell Marx each netted two points. Madi McGatha added a free throw.
Fluellen was one of three Josey players to reach double figures. Za’Mujah Jenkins bagged 12 points with Nikalya Serrano finished with 10 points.
Six different players recorded a three-point basket with the Lady Eagles finishing with nine.
No. 6 Union County........87 No. 27 Bears....................61 BLAIRSVILLE — Union County scored 22 points or more in three of the four quarters while having three players score 20 points or better.
Hayden Hughes (five treys) scored his game-high tying 22 points during the first half. Houston Henry (two treys) poured in 20 of his 22 points over the final two periods. Vince Mareula followed with 20 points.
The Panthers opened up a double-digit lead by the end of the first period claiming a 23-11 advantage. Union County outscored the Bears 18-16 in the second stanza to take a 41-27 lead at intermission.
The home team padded the margin by six points during the third period outpointing PCHS 22-16 to stretch the margin to 63-43. Union County finished the game outscoring the Bears 24-18.
Joe Drew (trey) was the lone double figure scorer for Pierce County scoring 28 points in his last game. Gabe Varnadore and Marshon Stanford each drilled two treys in scoring eight points.
Brandon Williams netted seven points with Nigel Brown chipping in four points. Ahmad Arnold and Trent Griffin banged in a trey each for three points.
