A running account of the Augusta area’s basketball and football scene. This is the blog. Go to @AugBball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for live coverage.
Tuesday's results set up some interesting matchups for later this week that will determine which local teams are setting themselves up for securing regular season region championships in the weeks ahead. Let's take a tour around the area by viewing last night's results and what some of them mean for key upcoming matchups.
Butler 13 8 9 24 - 54
Westside 12 14 7 14 - 47
Kedar Bodie (left) and Adrian Hatcher (right)
Butler handed Westside its first region loss of the season Tuesday by a score of 54-47. Adrian Hatcher led the way with 17 points, and Kedar Bodie and Chance Finklin each added 12.
The result catapults Butler to the top of the standings in the area's class 3A region as the Bulldogs and Westside each have suffered one loss. Of course Butler owns the tie breaker because of the head-to-head win.
Jayden Pack scored 30 points and Jaylen Blount added 23 to propel Hephzibah to a 67-58 win over Harlem Tuesday. The result sets up a showdown Thursday for first place in the area’s class 3A region between Hephzibah and Cross Creek. Both teams are undefeated in league play.
Evans (14-1, 4-0) retained its hold of the #1 spot in the area's class 6A region with a road win over Heritage (10-6, 3-1). Friday's road game against Grovetown (9-7, 3-1) will give the Knights the chance to further tighten its grip on the top spot. But a Grovetown victory would send the Warriors, the Knights and Heritage into a three-way tie at the top of the standings. HoopSeen Georgia supplied scoring information from last night's Evans-Heritage matchup:
Greenbrier picked up a timely 51-46 win against Loganville Tuesday that gave the Wolfpack sole possession of third place in its eight team class 5A region. Greenbrier is only one game out of first place behind Clarke Central and Walnut Grove.
Andrew Black led the way tonight with 18 points on 6 three pointers.
Greenbrier - Cyrus Wilder 0 2-2 2, Hampton Goff 1 3-5 5, Andrew Black 6 0-0 18, Davin Driskell 6 0-1 12, Khaleel Pratt 2 2-2 7, Sean Edewor 2 0-0 5, Levi Wahl 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 7-10 51.
Loganille - Thomas Grayson 2 0-0 4, Cooper Rubio 2 0-0 4, Ryan Grayson 2 0-0 5, Jafari Law 1 1-1 3, Nhine Wills 1 0-0 2, Avery Hamilton 6 2-3 16, Chris Dorbor 6 1-3 13. Totals: 20 4-7 46.
Freshman Elijah Crawford scored 31 points to lead Augusta Christian to a 69-58 win over Cardinal Newman Tuesday. Augusta Christian is now undefeated in 2021, the winner of 5 straight games and the owner of a 3-0 region record in SCISA’s class 3A.
Augusta Christian - Johnny O'keefe 2 1-1 6, Tray Moseley 5 0-0 10, Elijah Crawford 11 5-7 31, Cam Slade 6 0-0 16, Jeremiah Tolbert 1 0-0 2, Luke Wilson 2 0-2 4. Totals: 27 6-8 69.
Augusta breaks a huddle during a preseason practice.
Augusta topped Columbus State 80-73 Saturday in Columbus to snap a two-game losing skid and improve to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in Peach Belt Conference play. Junior guard Darren Lucas-White led all scorers with 25 points, and Augusta's four other starters all scored in double figures as well. Since conference play began on January 9th, the Jaguars have played with an 8 man roster, which will be the norm throughout the remainder of the season as starters Miguel Arnold and Troy Cracknell, along with several other players, will not be cleared to play before next season because of health protocols.
In the post game interview below, head coach Dip Metress explains that without Arnold, Cracknell and company, Augusta's brand of basketball is likely to be somewhat "ugly" during the remainder of this season. But Metress was quick to clarify that he'll enjoy the nights when the team is able to earn a conference win on the road, like it did Monday, however it might come. During the interview, Metress spoke in depth about the contributions of Lucas-White (25 points and 7 rebounds), freshman John Whitehead (18 points on 5-6 three point shooting), sophomore Lee Flenor (16 points and 9 rebounds), and juniors Tyshaun Crawford (11 points and 7 rebounds) and Tyree Myers (10 points, 8 assists and 3 steals).
Evans High School graduate Christian Chambers scored 24 points to lead Columbus, and Kalen Clifton added 17.
The Jaguars will host Lander Wednesday (4-4, 2-2) at 7:00 P.M. and also Clayton State Saturday (0-4, 0-4) at 3:30 P.M.
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.
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.
Region rivals South Aiken and North Augusta met last night for the second time in four days, and AugBball'sSeth Wesley was there so we could bring you the full game highlights and scoring details below. Even though the host Yellow Jackets excited fans with a few fantastic plays that we placed at the beginning of the highlight video, the Thoroughbreds prevailed to complete the season sweep and begin the 8 game regular season region slate 2-0.
It's still early, but the importance of South Aiken's pair of wins over the back-to-back region champions cannot be overstated. Unlike in Georgia, South Carolina has no region tournaments, so the state tournament seeds for these two teams, along with Midland Valley (2-0), Aiken (0-0) and Airport (0-1), depend on the results of these 8 league games.
South Aiken 12 19 14 24 - 69
North Augusta 14 11 24 14 - 63
South Aiken - Omarion Chandler 1 0-0 2, Jeffery Jackson 1 2-2 4, Jonathan Burns 7 3-4 19, Gabe Robinson 4 4-4 12, Nick Hodge 2 2-3 6, Donavan Hodge 5 5-8 15, Delwin Hodge 5 0-0 11. Totals: 25 16-21 69.
North Augusta - Colin Rodrigues 6 2-7 15, Naijah Buchanan 3 3-6 9, Jordan Wilburn 7 0-1 14, Elijah Hall 2 0-0 4, Amarri Wilcher 1 0-0 2, Austin Harrell 5 0-0 12, Terry Richberg 1 3-6 5, Kortez Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 8-20 63.
Three-point goals - South Aiken: 3 (Burns 2, Hodge).
Friday night will mark the first time this season that the high school hoops schedule will in a certain way resemble a non-pandemic Friday in January. I say that because I can spot at least three matchups between local rivals in which the leadership at or near the top of their regions' standings will be on the line. Because of the cancellations that have laced the January slate before this weekend, most region races have barely even gotten a chance to begin. So when Tuesday's results made it clear that Friday's Butler-Laney doubleheader and the rematch (of South Aiken's win over North Augusta Tuesday) between North Augusta and South Aiken's boys would give the teams involved the chance to take an upper hand in their respective races, I felt a touch of normalcy visiting us, which I am very grateful for during this anything-but-normal, pandemic influenced season. Here's a quick breakdown of the rivalry games we will be keeping our eyes and cameras on Friday night:
Butler (5-3, 3-0) at Laney (4-2, 3-0)
Class 2A, Region 4 - Girls
Alteona Collier - Laney
Some people think Laney, winner of three state titles since 2015, will experience a down season. But Eboni Fields, Butler's second year head coach, who starred at Laney before becoming a standout guard for both Francis Marion and the Georgia Soul, our area's professional women's team, knows better than to overlook the mighty Wildcats.
"Laney is playing better," Fields told me Tuesday in a text after Butler's 36-21 win over Putnam County, the fifth straight victory for the Bulldogs. "They started the season off slow, but you can never count them out."
A slow start for Laney means two losses in the pre-region portion of their schedule. Both of those stumbles came at home, the first against Washington County, class 2A's #3 ranked team according to Sandysspiel.com. The second loss was suffered against Cross Creek, class 3A's #5 ranked squad. The loss to the Razorbacks was Laney's first against a Richmond County opponent since 2005, according to Charles McNeil, the voice of the Wildcats for Perry Broadcasting.
Coach Fields, who graduated from Laney in 2006, was in uniform for the Lady Wildcats' famous head coach Otis Smart the last time Laney lost a *region game* against a Richmond County opponent. She shared what she believes it will take for that nearly forgotten history to repeat itself Friday night.
"Our defense is going to be the key Friday," Fields shared. "Also controlling the boards and containing Laney's guards!"
Look to the play of Laney's Alteona Collier and Butler's Jayla Thomas to find out which team will win the battle on the boards Fields cited. Thomas scored 20 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 43-40 win over then #6 Josey last week, the first of two impressive victories for Butler in the last 10 days. As Fields noted, Butler will have its hands full with Laney's Santanna Dennis and Kiara Turner. Dennis, a junior, has been a solid contributor since her freshman season, and Turner, who scored 24 points in Tuesday's 62-58 win over Josey, appears to be one of the next Lady Wildcats in a long line of dynamic guards for coach Smart.
Butler (4-3, 2-0) at Laney (5-3, 3-1)
Class 2A, Region 4 - Boys
Matt Jones - Laney
Both of these teams are loaded with talent, and both have the potential to make a deep run in the post season. Also, both teams need a game like Friday's to continue to build chemistry and grow as a unit after they have had very few opportunities to take the floor this season because of the stop and start nature of basketball activities in the current public health environment. Finally, both teams need a win Friday to keep up with Westside, which also stands 3-0 in league play.
Players to watch:
Laney -
Matt Jones - 6'7" senior
DJ Collins - 6'0" senior
Quan Collier - 6'2" senior
Jordan Stringer - 6'2" senior
James Nipper - 6'3" junior
Butler -
Zabriel Boozer - 6'8" senior
Kedar Bodie - 6'4" junior
Trayveyon Perry - 6'5" senior
Ronnie Striggles - 5'10" senior
Trayveyon Perry - Butler
South Aiken (3-2, 1-0) at North Augusta (3-5, 0-1)
(South Carolina) Class 4A, Region 5 - Boys
Honestly, I didn’t see coming Tuesday’s result, which saw South Aiken topping the two time defending region champ North Augusta. North Augusta features one of the top five players in the area in Colin Rodrigues, an electric athlete, a hard nosed competitor and a future college player. And junior Yellow Jacket Austin Harrell has had an exceptional season shooting and scoring through eight games.
Austin Harrell - North Augusta
But the Thoroughbreds demanded to be noticed Tuesday by knocking off the Yellow Jackets 65-51 behind 31 points by Donavan Hodge and 13 from Jonathan Burns. If South Aiken can complete the week's sweep on enemy grounds, it will be in the driver's seat despite the fact that they will have played only two games, because the entire slate is only eight games long in this five team region.
Darren Lucas-White (Augusta) and Jazeic Lottie (Flagler)
Playing its second consecutive game with an eight man roster that didn't include starters Miguel Arnold and Troy Cracknell, Augusta failed to hold off a late game push by Flagler, and the Saints topped the #10 ranked Jaguars 70-64 in St. Augustine Wednesday. Senior Jazeic Lottie, a transfer from Arkansas Little Rock who leads the Peach Belt Conference in scoring, posted 30 points in the win, including 9 straight during a 17-2 game closing run that spanned the final 5:14.
The outburst by Lottie made for the third time this season the 6-2 guard scored 30 or more points for Flagler (4-2, 2-1), which tallied two wins against Division I opponents in the pre-conference portion of its schedule to go along with its two PBC wins two date. Augusta (3-1, 1-1) was led by sophomore Lee Flenor, who scored 17 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and almost singlehandedly delivered a road win for the Jaguars with a 15 point, 10 rebound second half performance.
Darren Lucas-White (Augusta) - Photos via Flagler Athletics
Junior guard Darren Lucas-White added 15 points to go along with 4 steals, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in 38 minutes of action while simultaneously attempting to guard Lottie, who has already emerged as the conference's best player, on the other end of the floor. That task proved too difficult during the second half when Lottie scored 21 of his 30 points.
Jazeic Lottie (Flagler)
Three specific plays by the talented newcomer give a good visual for what Augusta was up against during the second half, when Lottie found his rhythm. The explosive guard gave the Saints their first lead since early in the first half when he drove through the middle of the paint, moving from left to right, and converted an inside-hand layup on the right side of the basket with his left hand, right under the outstretched hand of Flenor, who had extended his arm to block what he thought would be a right-handed attempt by Lottie. That bucket gave Flagler a 36-35 lead with 17:00 remaining.
Fast forward to the deciding stretch, and you'll see Lottie scoring a layup over Augusta's 7-1 center Tyshaun Crawford to cut Augusta's lead to 62-59 with 3:35 remaining before nailing a step back three pointer to tie the game at 62 with 2:00 left. Lottie would then make four consecutive free throws to finish his 9 point scoring stretch that gave Flagler its lead for good.
Until or unless Augusta's roster is reinforced by the return of the likes of Arnold and Cracknell, the road ahead for the Jaguars will be difficult. But the team proved by defeating Georgia College in its conference opener, and by establishing a 62-53 lead with 5:39 remaining against Flagler Wednesday, that the will and the potential exists for this Jaguar squad to compete at a championship level, despite the obvious obstacles.
"Our effort was great," Augusta head coach Dip Metress said after the game during the bus ride home. We were up 5 (with 4 minutes remaining) on the road, and we didn't close it out. We'll learn from it and get ready for the next one."
Lee Flenor (3) and Darren Lucas-White
Lucas-White continued his transition from being the team's defensive stopper and sixth man during his freshman and sophomore seasons to an All Peach Belt Conference caliber performer during the first four games of this pandemic influenced year. Along with Flenor, the junior figured prominently in Augusta's second half spurt that saw the Jaguars erase a 47-41 Flagler advantage. Lucas-White nailed a mid range jumper with the shot clock ticking to zero that gave Augusta a 58-53 lead with 7:57 remaining, and 53 seconds later he followed up with a pull up jumper in transition to give Augusta a 7 point lead. Flenor then expanded the lead to 9 with a short floater on a feed from Tyree Myers before Lottie's late game heroics stole the show.
In the first half it was freshman John Whitehead who combined with Lucas-White to score 16 of Augusta's 18 points during an 8 minute long stretch that saw the Jaguars expand a 13-12 lead into a 31-20 advantage after Whitehead punctuated the run by knocking down two consecutive three pointers.
Metress agreed with me the morning after the game when I said that Lucas-White, Flenor and Whitehead are all showing signs of transforming themselves as players while being forced to shoulder a heavy responsibility that might not have been envisioned for them when the season began. Along with Myers, the team's starting junior point guard and consistent leader who has quarterbacked the Jaguars to a 52-15 record since taking the keys to Augusta's offense, and Crawford, the 7-1 preseason first team all conference center, Augusta's five starters all logged more than 30 minutes of play Wednesday.
John Whitehead - Augusta
The Jaguars will need to rest fast because Saturday and Monday will bring two more road games before Augusta returns for a Wednesday/Saturday home stand next week. This Saturday's opponent, Georgia Southwestern, which is currently allowing spectators at its home games, topped Georgia College 79-66 Wednesday to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Monday's nemesis, Columbus State (1-1), also won last night, topping Clayton State 89-66.
We will provide live coverage of Augusta's first road game tonight at Flagler. Tip-off is 6:00 P.M.
Augusta (3-0, 1-0) moved up a spot to #10 in the nation in the latest installment of the National Association of Basketball Coaches rankings. Get completely up to speed with the Jaguars before our coverage of tonight's 6:00 P.M. road game against Flagler (3-2, 1-1) by viewing the Full Game Reports from the first three wins for the Jaguars:
***Thursday, January 14 Update***
Hours after moving up to the #10 spot in the national rankings, Augusta fell to Flagler on the road Wednesday as the Jaguars, once again playing with an eight man roster, weren't able to hold off a late game surge by star newcomer Jazeik Lottie and the Saints. See our full game report here:
Augusta Falls Short Against Flagler Despite a Valiant Effort Under Difficult Circumstances
From #23 Augusta's win over Emmanuel: Post game interviews with Dip Metress and Miguel Arnold with highlights and game notes; full game replay with key moments noted
Hours after moving up to the #10 spot in the national rankings, Augusta fell to Flagler on the road Wednesday as the Jaguars, once again playing with an eight man roster, weren't able to hold off a late game surge by star newcomer Jazeik Lottie and the Saints. See our full game report here:
Augusta Falls Short Against Flagler Despite a Valiant Effort Under Difficult Circumstances
We'll be adding to this report throughout the morning. Below are the box scores we gathered after last night's games, as well as those we received last week that we haven't published until now. In addition to what you see below, we will add the following results from Tuesday night before the end of today: Fox Creek vs Swansea (boys), Lakeside vs Heritage (boys), North Augusta vs South Aiken (boys), Laney vs Josey (girls), Butler vs Putnam County (girls) and Westminster vs John Milledge (girls).
Joshton Mincey - Evans
From Tuesday, 1/12/21
Evans continued its romp through the season tonight with a 78-63 road win over Alcovy. The Knights improved to 11-1, and five players scored in double figures:
Joshton Mincey (pictured) - 19 Devin Story - 15 (5 three pointers) Brasen James - 14 Jay Stephens - 12 Rashad King - 11 pic.twitter.com/Nmifl28oRE
Evans - Brasen James 6 1-2 14, Rashad King 4 3-6 11, Joshton Mincey 7 3-4 19, Devin Story 5 0-0 15, Jay Stephens 6 0-0 12, Tyson Jones 2 0-0 4, CJ Spain 0 1-2 1, Jourdain Spann 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 8-14 78.
Alcovy - T. Howze 6 8-11 20, J. Davis 1 0-0 2, B. Howard 0 1-4 1, S. Moore 3 0-0 6, T. Singleton 5 0-0 12, B. Hodges 3 0-0 6, M. Folds 2 1-1 5, B. Smith 2 1-1 5, K. Henry 2 1-1 6. Totals 24 12-18 63.
Greenbrier topped Johnson County 68-40 tonight to improve to 8-6 overall and, more importantly, 5-1 in class 5A, region 8 action. Jackson Jennings and Sean Edewor each scored 13 points to lead the way, and Khaleel Pratt added 10 in the win. pic.twitter.com/PEG75XwscM
Johnson Co. - Scott Odum 2 1-2 5, Wade Peake 6 4-6 19, Jackson Vandiver 4 0-0 8, Jake Shaw 4 0-2 8. Totals 16 5-10 40.
Three-point goals - Greenbrier: 8 (Jennings, Black 2, Pratt, Edewor 3, Eveker). Johnson Co.: 3 (Peake).
Augusta Christian began region play with a road win tonight, topping Hammond 61-51 behind 16 points by Elijah Crawford (shown here) and 15 from Cam Slade. pic.twitter.com/C7VUKnJHhW
Three-point goals - Augusta Christian 7: (O'Keefe, Crawford, Slade 4, Tolbert). Hammond: 7 (McCall, Epps, Osborne, Collins 2, Evans 2).
Warren County topped Georgia Military 67-45 tonight, picking up where it left off when it last played (and earned a big win over Thomson) on December 26. The #9 ranked (class 1A public) Screaming Devils were led by junior Lorenzo Johnson (shown here), who scored 25 points. pic.twitter.com/7AW3hHLgLp
Westside improved to 10-1 tonight with a 79-39 win over Oglethorpe. Sophomore Khalon Hudson, shown here, led all scorers with 23 points. Westside is ranked #7 in class 2A in the most recent listing at https://t.co/jwU6PplFw9. pic.twitter.com/Yyn5rvrJEh
Aquinas topped Harlem 59-51 in overtime in a non region game tonight. Justin Lloyd (top) led all scorers with 17, Camden Parada (bottom left) scored 14, and Jacquez Merriweather (bottom right) added 11 in the win. pic.twitter.com/70Z7KzJ6TK
Laney topped Josey 62-58 behind 24 points by Kiara Turner and 14 from Alteona Collier (pictured). The Lady Wildcats improved to 3-0 in region play, setting up a showdown @ home Friday against Butler, which also improved to 3-0 in league play tonight by beating Putnam County 36-21 pic.twitter.com/MLiwLKcpGr
Butler topped Putnam Co 36-21 tonight behind 13 points by Lauren Brady. The result sets up a showdown Friday between Butler (5-3, 3-0) and Laney (4-2, 3-0) for the top spot in class 2A’s region 4.
Butler coach Eboni Fields, pictured on the left, graduated from Laney in 2006. pic.twitter.com/78slynslRE
Senior Donavan Hodge, shown here as a sophomore, scored 31 to lead South Aiken to a 65-51 win over North Augusta Tuesday. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Dy52b7gPQu
Augusta Christian freshman Elijah Crawford made this clutch bucket to force double OT, and senior Tray Moseley opened the second extra period with a three pointer to give the Lions all the momentum they needed to eventually capture an 80-75 win over Fox Creek at home tonight. pic.twitter.com/yBs3WsdjKw
