Albany High basketball teams sweep Thomas County Central

ALBANY — In a physical, low-scoring contest, Archie Chatmon and the Albany High Indians held off a late run by Thomas County Central to score a 51-44 victory Friday night.

The score would have you believe the game was much more competitive than it was for the first three quarters.

At one point in the second half, the Indians held a 20-point advantage.

Both teams came into the evening with 1-2 records. The Indians jumped out to a 10-point lead at halftime. Jordan Young had another commanding day in the paint for the Indians, snatching seven rebounds to go along with eight points and three assists. Malik Dungee had another solid defensive outing, grabbing three steals to go along with 10 points.

It wasn’t enough to cause a major dent in the stat sheet, but the Indians got more than their fair share of free throws. The home team went to the charity stripe 41 times, converting 17 attempts, compared to the visitors’ paltry five total attempts.

“We thought that we had been getting a little quick-triggered on the jumpers,” Chatmon said. “So we challenged them to attack the boards a little bit more.”

After the break, the Indians just poured it on, doubling their lead and emptying their bench to get reserve players some quality playing time.

“We wanted to get everybody some time,” Chatmon said. “We’ve got to build some depth. A lot of those young kids hadn’t played at this level. The only way they’re going to learn how to play is to get thrown into the fire. It’s one thing to throw them out there in the end, but we wanted to get them out there when it mattered. We wanted to push the envelope a little bit. Hopefully it pays off in the end.”

For now, Chatmon and the Indians can only afford to look forward one night.

“We’ll learn a little bit more about ourselves tomorrow night,” Chatmon said of tonight’s game against Cook. “But that was a good win for us.”

Nick Kazmekas led the Yellow Jackets with eleven points, while Julius Guyton added ten points of his own.

ALBANY GIRLS 35, THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 33: Earlier in the evening, the Squaws squeaked out a two-point victory over the Lady Yellow Jackets. The visitors carried a slim lead going into the fourth, yet the home team would pull away to get their first win of the season over a region foe.

China Marcus led the Squaws with 16 points, while Ashley O’Neal led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 10 points.

The (1-4) Squaws will make the drive to Adel to face Cook tonight, while the Lady Yellow Jackets (1-2) will play host to arch-rival Thomasville.