Bearcats drop 2 region games
Published 7:04 pm Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Bainbridge’s Deion Thomas grabs a rebound against Northside. Also shown is B.J. Cheatem.|Joe Crine
The Bainbridge High School Bearcats dropped two Region 1-AAAAA basketball games over the weekend.
The Northside-Columbus High School Patriots defeated them, 52-44, at the BHS gym Friday night, and the Hardaway High School Golden Hawks downed them, 63-52, Saturday, in Columbus, Ga.
The Bearcats are 15-6 overall, and are 6-3 in region play, tying them for second place in the region with Hardaway.
Northside-Columbus is first in the region, with a record of 7-2.
The top two teams will draw byes in the Region 1-AAAAA tournament, which is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 16, at the BHS gym.
The Bearcats completed their region schedule Tuesday when they hosted the Thomas County Central High School Yellow Jackets.
They will conclude their regular season this weekend. On Friday they will play the Cairo High School Syrupmakers in Cairo, Ga., and on Saturday they will host the Seminole County High School Indians.
On Friday night, the Bearcats took an early 3-0 lead over the Patriots when guard Tyree Crump hit a long jumper two minutes into the game.
The Patriots quickly cut it to 3-2 on a layup by Tae Sears. A low-scoring first quarter ended with the Bearcats out in front, 6-5.
B.J. Cheatem grabbed a rebound and put it back in with 7:13 left in the second quarter, to put the Patriots ahead 7-6.
The Bearcats then went on a 6-0 scoring run to go ahead 12-7. First, Dontavius Marshall hit a three-point jumper at the 6:20 mark. Then, guard Justin Baker hit a layup off the right glass at the 5:28 mark, and Cheatem hit a free throw at the 4:51 mark.
The Bearcats were up by eight, 20-12, at halftime.
The Patriots pulled even 35-35 when R.J. Sessions hit a layup off the right glass at the 6:15 mark of the fourth quarter. The Patriots outscored the Bearcats 17-9 down the stretch to put the game away.
Bainbridge was led Friday night by Crump, with 17 points, and Marshall with 12.
Marshall scored a team-high 17 points in Saturday night’s loss to Hardaway. Also in double figures for the Bearcats were Crump with 12, and Baker with 10.
