The Bulloch Academy boys 16-1, (4-0) continue to blow past the competition. Tuesday night the Gators made an early night for the visitors from Fredrica pulling out to a 42-17 halftime lead, and going on for a 70-41 victory.
“We got off to a little shaky start, but turned things on later,” said Bulloch Academy coach Chance Cofield. “I was happy our bench players got an opportunity to play some big minutes.”
The game was actually close throughout the first quarter. The Knights trailed 13-10 at the end of the first, but senior Pierless Brown then scored 12 straight points - including back to back pull up three pointers - to extend the Gator lead to 25-10.
“We’ve go to learn to come out strong from the get go,” Cofield said. “We can’t seem to score early, but when we get it going, and we get the press working we seem to get in the flow of things.”
The run continued as Bulloch Academy outscored Fredrica 20-2 to start the second quarter. Brown totaled 18 points in the second quarter, while freshman Rodney Hill hit a pair of three pointers as the Gators pulled out to a 42-17 halftime lead.
The rout continued in the second half. Brown added nine more of his game high 32 points in the thirdas the Gators extended their lead to 60-32. The Gators emptied the bench in the fourth, and went on to win by 29 points.
“It’s a big one since it is a region win,” Cofield said. “We have a big game with Trinity on the road, and I’m glad we go in with our starters being able to have gotten some rest.”
Brown led the Gators with 32 points, and was the only Gator player in double figures. Isiah Jackson led Fredrica with 12 points.
Up next Bulloch Academy travels to Trinity for a region matchup Friday in Dublin. The boys then travel to Heritage Saturday.
Lady Knights 42, Lady Gators 41
The Bulloch Academy Lady Gators have had their troubles closing games recently. Last weekend they lost to Hilton Head in overtime, Saturday night they fell to Pinewood on the road 32-29 in overtime, and Tuesday they led Fredrica 40-38 late, only to see the Lady Knights pull out a 42-41 victory.
“The last few games have come down to the final possession,” said Bulloch Academy coach Beth Burke. “We’ve had some tough ones here lately. It’s rough when you let one like this slip away at home.”
The game saw 5 ties and 4 lead changes in the second half. The Gators pulled ahead 40-38 early in the fourth on a Kacie Rickets layup, that would be the only field goal for the Gators in the fourth as they went over six minutes without scoring a point.
Fredrica tied the game 40-40 on a layup by Jadyn Scott with just over six minutes to go, but then didn’t score again until Jada Scott hit a layup with 1:35 to go in the game, to give the Knights a 42-40 lead.
The Lady Gators had a couple of chances to tie the game. Regan Ellis split a pair of free throws with 1:20 to cut the lead to 42-41. Ellis then missed inside with just over 30 seconds to play, and finally Kacie Ricketts fired a three pointer at the horn that fell short.
“We seemed to get tired there in the fourth quarter,” Burke said. “We just kept passing the ball around and nobody seemed to want to cut to the basket. We had several chances, but just couldn’t get anything to fall.”
The Gators played well in the first half jumping out to a 13-12 lead at the end of the first. An Abby Newton runner extended the Gator lead to 24-20, and a Ricketts layup made it 28-20. Fredrica answered just before the half with a three pointer by Riley Derrick to trim the lead to 28-23.
“I thought we played well defensively throughout the game,” Burke said. “We just have to be able to be able to put the last couple games behind us and fight back for the next one.”
The loss drops the Lady Gators to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in region play. Newton led the Gators with 15 points, Ricketts added nine. Kaitlyn Todd led the Knights with 14 points, Jada Scott added 13.
