Cats lose close to Cairo

Published 7:45 pm Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Cairo High School Syrupmakers scored the last four points of the game Saturday night in Cairo to pull put a 65-61 win over the Bainbridge High School Bearcats, who finished 1-1 for the weekend.

On Friday night, the Bearcats defeated the Colquitt County High School Packers 68-33 in Moultrie.

The Bearcats, who are now 5-2 on the season, trailed the Syrupmakers 57-55 when Justin Harris hit a layup, was fouled and hit a free throw to put them ahead 58-57 with 3:02 minutes left in the game.

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The Syrupmakers tied it 58-58 when Jemonta Baker hit a free throw at the 2:56 mark.

The Bearcats followed with three unanswered points as Jeremy Harper hit a free throw at the 2:38 mark, and Davario Thomas hit a field goal at the 1:50 mark to go up 61-58.

Terrell Bryant then hit two free throws at the 1:26 mark and one free throw at the 1:13 mark to tie it 61-61 and set the stage for the Syrupmakers’ final four-point victory run.

First Jonathan Williams hit a layup at the 1:04 mark, then Brian Walker hit two free throws at the six-second mark.

Leading scorers for the Bearcats Saturday night were Harris with 14, Rohan Gaines with 13 and Thomas with 12.

The Bearcats took the early lead, going up 5-0, when Harris hit consecutive layups off the right glass at the 6:12 and 6:03 marks.

By the end of the quarter, the Syrupmakers were out front 14-9. They were up just 9-6 when Walker hit a three-point jumper from the right side at the 1:09 mark, and Jemonta Baker hit a jumper from the right side at the one-minute mark.

Bearcat Shawn Samuels closed out the first-quarter scoring with two free throws at the 52-second mark.

After the game, Bearcats coach Rickey McCullough said his team was not able to make plays at critical times.

In Friday night’s win over Colquitt County, the Bearcats scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to increase a 28-18 halftime lead to 38-18.

They outscored the Packers 40-15 in the final two quarters. No Packer player was able to hit in double figures against the Bearcats defense.

Luis Ballenilla was high for the Packers with 7 points. Cornelius James contributed 4 and Lawhe Wingfeld, Tyrell Wright, Derrell Ward and Stacey Blackwell all scored 3.

The Bearcats were led Friday night by Devon Baulkman with 18, Gaines with 17 and Harris with 11.