Macon boys finally get the best of Warner Robins

When it comes to all-star games, it does not get much better than the performance that the players gave in the boys game of the MacTown-WarTown series Sunday.

The Macon team entered the game knowing it they had lost the first three years, but it was able to break that streak as Central’s Tyrice Paul took a long pass from Westside’s Samone Reed and laid it in with only two seconds on the clock, giving the Macon team an 88-86 win.

Central’s Kylan Hill grabbed the MVP honors by scoring 14 points, and Macon also got 13 points apiece from Aaron Ridley from Southwest and Marquise Jackson from Windsor.

The fact that it was Macon’s first win in the series was not lost on the Macon team.

“We knew that we had never won the game, and we talked about changing that,” Jackson said. “We were able to get together and have a few practices, and we ran some drills and really got after it in the scrimmages, which I think helped us. We really felt good about our chances, but the Warner Robins team was very good. We are glad we were the team to stop the streak.”

Macon dominated for most of the first three quarters and built a 14 point lead early in the fourth quarter. But Warner Robins, behind the Warner Robins duo of Nelson Phillips and Jacolbey Owens, went on a 16-2 run to tie the score at 72. Warner Robins had the ball with the score tied with 21 seconds left, but a turnover led to Paul’s winning score.

“I wasn’t nervous at all because I knew I could play with these guys, and I know we had some guys at Windsor who could play public school basketball,” Jackson said. “I just wanted to prove that private school guys can play.”

The girls game was not as close as Warner Robins coasted to a 64-43 win. Carrington Kee was named the MVP as she scored 13 points and Warner Robins remained undefeated in the four-year series against Macon.

“We want to show everyone that Warner Robins is a dominant area for girls basketball,” said Kee who played at Veterans. “I know when this team got together it was all very natural because most of us have played rec ball or AAU together, so we had great chemistry between us from the start. I played in another all-star game on Saturday and we lost, and I didn’t play very well, so it was good to get out here and hit some shots early and get things going.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2017 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Macon boys finally get the best of Warner Robins."