The Bainbridge High School Bearcats picked up a pair of Region 1-AAAAA basketball victories over the weekend to improve their overall record to 15-7 and their Region 1-AAAAA mark to 6-2.
Friday they defeated the Northside High School Patriots 62-55 in Columbus and Saturday they defeated Columbus’s Hardaway High School Golden Hawks 66-42 at home on senior night.
Bearcats, seniors honored Saturday were Greg Cooper, Dominic Douglas, Stephen Johnson, Tavarius Bowens and Franklin Bryant. Bearcats and Lady Cats senior public address announcer Devin Thompson was also honored.
The Bearcats and Northside Columbus were tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter Friday. The Bearcats put up 16-14 when Trevon Shaw hit a layup with 6:55 showing on the second quarter clock. The score was tied 26-26 at halftime.
Tyree Crump hit a three-point jumper and a two-point jumper at the 3:44 and in 3:16 marks of the third quarter to put the Bearcats ahead 38-33. They went up by up by 45-41 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bearcats went up by 11 at 58-47 when Stephen Johnson hit a jumper in the lane and converted a free throw with 4:30 left in the game.
Another three-point jumper by Crump with 58 seconds remaining in the game put the Bearcats out front 60-55.
He then hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to conclude the night’s scoring.
Crump led the Bearcats in with 27 points. Trevon Shaw added eight points.
Saturday against Hardaway’s Golden Hawks, the Bearcats went up 9-8 on a three-point jumper by Shaw with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Golden Hawks hit a field goal to take a 10-9 lead, Crump hit a jumper at the 3:36 mark to put the Bearcats back up 11-10.
The Golden Hawks led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bearcats reclaimed the lead 22-19 when Crump hit a basket, was fouled and hit a free throw with 4:42 left in the second quarter.
They increased their lead to five at 25-20 when Crump hit a jumper from the right side 3:32 remaining. They were up 33-20 at halftime.
Crump’s two free throws with 1:33 left in the third quarter put the Bearcats up by 25, at 53-28, they were up by 30, 59-29, entering the fourth quarter.
Their biggest fourth quarter lead was 30, at 59-29.
Crump led the Bearcats again with a second straight game high 27-point performance. Justin Crankfield led the Golden Hawks with 12 points.
The Bearcats returned to Region 1-AAAAA Tuesday, taking on the Thomas County Central High School Yellow Jackets on the road.
Wednesday, they will travel to Leesburg to take on the Lee County High School Trojans in a game originally scheduled for last Tuesday, but postponed and rescheduled because of cold weather.