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BAINBRIDGE SEVENTH-GRADE Bearcats center Greg Cooper goes up to contest a shot by Thomas County Middle School seventh-grade Yellow Jackets center, Austin Bryant.

7th-grade Cats defeat Central

By Joe Crine (Contact) | Post-Searchlight

Published Friday, December 4, 2009

Coach Heith Maxwell's Bainbridge Middle School seventh-grade Tigers defeated the Thomas County Central Middle School seventh-grade Yellow Jackets 24-19 here Thursday in a game stopped in the third quarter due to time restraints.

Georgia State Board of Education rules prohibit middle school events to continue past 7 p.m. on school nights.

The win, at the Hutto Middle School Gymnasium, improved the Bearcats season record to 4-1. They will return to action Tuesday when they travel to Whigham for games with the Whigham Middle School seventh-grade Lady Indians and Indians.

Center Greg Cooper, who took game scoring items with 16 points, gave the Bearcats a 14-10 lead when he drove into the lane for back-to-back layups as the second-quarter clock ticked down below 4 minutes.

Cooper quickly moved the advantage out to 18-10 when he went up strong for a layup and hit two free throws in the first three minutes of the second quarter. They were ahead 18-12 at halftime.

Behind Cooper in the Bearcats scoring chart Thursday were small forward Craig Cooper with 3, power forward Chad Jenkins and point guard Henry Kelly with 2 apiece, and shooting guard Jalin Belin with 1.

Austin Bryant, who led the Yellow Jackets with 8 points, scored all of his points in the first half, tallying three field goals in the first half and one in the second half.