Matt Jones Dominates in Laney's Boys Win Over Butler; Eboni Fields and the Lady Bulldogs Top the Lady Wildcats to Claim First Place in the Region Standings

James Nipper - Laney

Laney hosted Butler Friday for a double header between region rivals that had implications for the league's standings, as the meetings between theses schools usually do come January every season. AugBball special contributors Charles McNeil, the play-by-play voice for both Laney (with Perry Broadcasting) and Augusta University (with AugBball), and Zach Tinkham, a member of Augusta University's staff, provided post game analysis along with an interview of Laney's boys head coach Tracey Gamble in the video summary of the games below.

Matt Jones Dominates

Laney's boys improved to 3-1 in region play with a 67-58 win over Butler, and the Wildcats remain alone in second place in the eight team region, one game behind Westside (4-0). Butler fell to 2-1 in league play.

In the video below Coach Gamble, McNeil and Tinkham all heap praise on Laney's 6-8 senior center Matt Jones, who led all scorers with 22 points and is credited for double figure rebounds, 4 blocked shots and, as Tinkham points out, altering many more of Butler's attempts. Jones has been one of the area's most attractive college prospects for a few years. We barely captured his two-handed dunk over a 6-8 defender off a lob on an inbounds play, but the footage was too good not to place it first in the video anyway!

Laney    18 18 15 16    -    67

Butler    12 15 18 13    -    58

    Laney - James Nipper 1 2-2 4, Matthew Jones 10 2-4 22, Quan Collier 6 3-4 15, Kyrell Thompson 5 0-0 12, DJ Collins 5 0-0 12, Corey Alexander 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 7-10 67.

    Butler - Ronnie Striggles 6 4-5 17, Kedar Bodie 9 0-1 20, Chance Finklin 1 1-2 3, Jatavian Freeman 1 0-0 2, Trayveyon Perry 5 0-0 10, Adrian Hatcher 1 0-0 2, Zabriel Boozer 1 0-0 2, Elijah Martinez 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 5-8 58.

Three-point goals - Laney: 4 (Thompson 2, Collins 2). Butler: 3 (Striggles, Bodie 2).

The Lady Bulldogs Prevail

Brionna Sims - Butler

We aren't used to seeing a Laney loss on the girls side, and that is exactly what Butler and its second year head coach Eboni Fields, a former star for Laney herself, delivered Friday. The win was Butler's sixth straight, and the Lady Bulldogs improved to 4-0 in region play, while Laney fell to 3-1. 2005 was the last time the Lady Wildcats lost a region contest to a Richmond County foe, and Fields was in uniform for Laney during that season.

In the video below, Tinkham praised Fields for her halftime adjustments that allowed Butler to better handle Laney's defensive pressure in the second half, when Butler overcome an 11 point deficit by scoring 45 second half points and running away with the victory.

Butler    8 11 17 19    -    62

Laney    13 17 15 5    -    51

    Butler - Lauren Braddy 3 0-0 6, Amari Surry 3 2-2 8, Tamiya Jackson 4 0-2 9, Jamesha Slater 1 0-0 3, Jayla Thomas 3 0-0 6, Makera Tarver 1 0-0 3, Brionna Sims 10 6-10 27. Totals: 25 8-14 62.

    Laney - Santana Davis 2 3-4 7, Eniya Bostic 0 2-2 2, Kiara Turner 3 2-4 12, Ciara Turner 1 0-0 2, Janiya Wilson 1 0-0 2, Sanclaire Fryer 3 0-0 6, Alteona Collier 8 6-11 22. Totals: 18 13-19 51.

Three-point goals - Butler: 4 (Jackson, Slater, Tarver, Sims). Laney: 2 (Turner, Collier).