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Cats sweep Trojans, Syrupmakers

Published Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Bainbridge High School Bearcats swept a pair of home games over the weekend, defeating the Lee County Trojans 94-41 Friday night and downing the Cairo High School Syrupmakers 66-59 Saturday night.

The Bearcats, who are 18-4 overall and 3-0 in Region 1AAAA play, were in control all the way in Friday’s big Region 1AAAA win over Lee County.

They built a 10-point, 17-7 lead, with 41 seconds in the first quarter and would never lead by less than double digits the rest of the way.

Justin Harris’ three-point jumper with 5:45 showing on the second-quarter clock put the Bearcats up by 22, 35-13.

The Bearcats put four men in double figures against the Trojans. Devon Baulkman and Davrio Thomas shared game-scoring honors with 22 points apiece, Rodney Glenn added 13 and Justin Harris contributed 11.

Jacoby Mallory led the Trojans with 21.

Saturday’s game with Cairo was close throughout.

Justin Harris’ layup off the right glass at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter put the Bearcats ahead 2-0. After the Syrupmakers Duane Willis hit a free throw at the 6:04 mark to cut it to 2-1, Harris hit a free throw at the 5:09 mark to make it 3-1.

The Bearcats maintained a slim lead until just three seconds remained in the first quarter. That’s when Syrupmaker Terrell Bryant hit a three-point jumper to send the game to the second quarter tied 16-16

The Syrupmakers then took the lead 19-16 when Bryant hit another three-pointer just 14 seconds into the second quarter.

The Bearcats cut it to 19-18 on a rebound and stick back by Devon Baulkman at the 3:48 mark. A driving Bryant layup off the right glass at the 2;38 mark made it 21-18 in favor of the Syrupmakers, Harris pulled the Bearcats even 21-21 with a three-point jumper from the right side at the 2:17 mark. The game remained deadlocked 25-25 at halftime.

The Bearcats quickly broke the tie, scoring the first four points of the third quarter to go up 29-25. First Harris hit a driving layup off the left glass at the 7:11 mark then Davario Thomas hit a layup the right glass at the 6:54 mark.

The Bearcats got the lead out to double digits, at 39-28, when Baulkman banged home a layup with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter. They were up by eight, 45-37, at the end of the quarter.

The Syrupmakers made a late run, cutting the lead to five, 58-53, when Jemonta Baker hit two free throws with 2:03 left in the game. A jumper from the right side by Harris at the 1:03 mark increased the lead to seven, at 60-53.

After Moses Vasquez hit a layup off the right glass to cut it to 60-55 at the 51-second mark, Baulkman hit two free throws at the 38-second mark, and Harris hit a layup off the right glass at the 27-second mark to go up by nine, 64-55

“Cairo made a run at us late, but I thought we handled it well,” Bearcats coach Rickey McCullough said after Saturday’s game. “I thought our point guard Jeremy Harper ran the team well.”

Baulkman led the Bearcats Saturday night with 21 points. Harris put in 20 and Thomas scored 10. Terrell Bryant took game-scoring honors with 23.

Jonathan Williams and Jemonta Baker were also in double figures for the Syrupmakers with 15 and 14 respectively.