Peach County girls tighten grip on second place in Region 2-AAA
Second place in the region was up for grabs Tuesday between Peach County and Central. The Trojans now have a firm grip on the spot with the regular season entering its final few games for teams in GHSA Region 2-AAA.
Peach County overwhelmed Central in the first half, cruising to a 51-21 win after dominating the first half. The Trojans were in control through the first two quarters, essentially taking the Chargers out of it before the teams headed to the locker rooms with Peach County ahead 32-6.
The Chargers came into the third quarter strong, attacking the basket right away and outscored the Trojans (18-2 overall, 12-2 Region 2-AAA) 16-10 in the quarter. By then, however, Central (13-7, 9-3) was in too deep of a hole.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Nausia Woolfolk: No player was a microcosm of the way that Peach County played in the first half than Woolfolk. She scored all 16 of her points in the first half, including two 3-pointers.
Deja Holland: Like Woolfolk, her night was jump-started by a big first half. She scored eight in the first two quarters and kept it up in the second half, finishing with 17.
Jada Clowers: On a tough night for the Chargers offensively, she was a bight spot, scoring six points after being held scoreless in the first half.
OBSERVATION
Winning inside: A strength of Central on the offensive end of the floor this season has been its inside play, giving the Chargers a two-pronged attack near the basket. That factor was neutralized by the Trojans, who held Central's top two post players, Clowers and Kamry Hassan, to a combined 11 points. Neither scored a point in the first half.
WORTH MENTIONING
Taking shape: The seedings for the region tournament are now more defined following Tuesday. The Trojans, whose only two losses are two region-leading Kendrick, remain two games out of first place. The Chargers led Westside by a fairly comfortable three games prior to Tuesday.
ALSO TUESDAY NIGHT
Central's boys led early and didn't look back in a 73-54 win. Antarius McCoy led the Chargers with 16 points, and Wanya Thomas had 11. The Trojans were led by the 16 points of Fletcher Hooks.
THEY SAID IT
Peach County head coach Maxine Cherry on the first half: "It was great, they came out to shoot and ready, I was very proud of them."
Cherry on the importance of region seedings: "It's important. We told them that they were sitting in the second spot and that we needed this win."
Cherry on the Trojans' inside defensive plan: "We stayed in a 3-2 (zone) and went with a little 2-3, we just mixed it around. I think they played pretty well."
Central head coach Sheila Toombs on the loss: "If somebody had told me that when I got up (Tuesday) morning, I would of told them, 'That's not true.' Peach looked good; they looked real good. I'm not going to take anything away from Peach; they were ready to play. I just think mentally, we weren't in it. (Peach County) did what they do, and we just stunk it up."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Central travels to Jackson on Wednesday. Peach County hosts Jackson on Friday.
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Peach County girls tighten grip on second place in Region 2-AAA ."