MONROE THANKSGIVING SHOOTOUT ROUNDUP: Monroe boys roll past Northeast

ALBANY — First-year Monroe High School boys basketball coach Keith Hayes has encouraged his team to have fun.

The Tornadoes did that Friday night in the late game of the Monroe Thanksgiving Shootout and came away with a 81-65 victory over Northeast Macon.

Monroe pulled away late in the first half, building double-figure leads. However, the Raiders came back.

They trimmed Monroe’s lead to four with 3:17 left in the third quarter before the Tornadoes quickly used a 6-0 run in the next minute to push the lead back to 10.

However, Northeast didn’t go away.

They chipped at Monroe’s lead and cut the deficit to three on a trey from Darius Dunn with 21 seconds left in the third quarter. However, that was as close as they could get.

Ulysses Williams led Monroe with 19 points, while Malik Frazier added 15 and Destin Tumblin 14. Julius Nelson added 12.

The Tornadoes will play Lee County tonight at 8 p.m. in the finale of the Thanksgiving Shootout.

Bainbridge girls 44, Dougherty 38

Dougherty led 5-2 before back-to-back 3-pointers from Bainbridge ignited a 16-0 run late in the first quarter and carried over into the second. But Dougherty cut the deficit to six on basket from Erykah Taylor.

But the Lady Bearcats led 23-16 at halftime.

Dougherty continued to chip at the lead in the third quarter, pulling to within a point on a pair of free throws from Shy’Keria Williams. However, Bainbridge pulled away and led by as many as six before Dougherty made another push at the lead.

A 3-pointer from the right wing from Williams gave the Lady Trojans their first lead at the 3:20 mark. It was Dougherty’s first lead since the opening minutes of the third quarter at 34-33. But Bainbridge quickly responded with a trey.

A pair of free throws from Tiana Martin tied the game at the 2:40 mark before Bainbridge ended the game on an 8-2 run.

Williams led Dougherty (1-1) with 10 points, while Jah’ne Brown added nine and Kianna Lancaster seven.

Nadia Marshall led Bainbridge with 16 points, while Tyra Smart finished with 11 after sinking a trio of 3-point baskets. Tytianna Roseborough finished with seven.

Worth County girls 49, Baker County 37

After trailing by as many as 14, Baker County pulled within striking distance of Worth County but could never take the lead and fell to the Lady Rams in the opening game.

Worth County (1-0) got 13 points from DeAundra Smith and 12 from DeAnna Williams. Breosha Toomer added eight points.

Baker County got 19 points from Zandasia McGee.

“That is the first time I’ve gone 1-0 in my career, so I’m excited to see how we progress from here,” Worth County girls coach John Popham said. “I hope this is good for our confidence moving forward.”