U-SAVE-IT-CLASSIC: Terrell County tops Dougherty

ALBANY — Terrell County boys basketball coach John Davis is a believer in learning by repetition. He said the more his Greenwaves work on scoring points in transition in practice, the better they’re getting at.

If Davis was giving a grade for his team’s performance Saturday against Dougherty in the U-Save-It Christmas Classic, he just might have given his team an A.

The Greenwaves scored plenty of points in transition and played a little defense too. They withstood every rally the Trojans mounted in the second half to post a 66-55 victory at Albany High School.

“The guys are finally buying into what we’ve been teaching them,” Davis said. “They’d make a run, then we’d make a run. We made our free throws, which helped us maintain our lift and we were able to add a little cushion.”

Three times in the second half, Dougherty trimmed double-figure deficits to four points but couldn’t draw any closer.

The Trojans (1-9) appeared to seize the momentum near the end of the third period when Michael Whatley ignited a 10-4 run over the final 2:40 to close the gap to 49-45. But Terrell opened the final quarter with two quick baskets, including a jumper from Jamaal Thompson, to quickly put the Greenwaves back in control.

Then following a Trojan turnover, Rashaan Mathis sank a jumper to push the Greenwaves’ lead back to double-figures at 55-45 with 7:09 left.

Dougherty tried one more attempt, using a 6-0 run midway through the quarter triggered by David Quimby to make it 57-53 with 3:40 left.

However, Terrell used a pair of baskets from Detravion Bishop to outscore Dougherty 9-2 the rest of the game and held the Trojans scoreless from the floor. Dougherty managed just a pair of free throws.

“Sometimes during Christmas break, the guys seem to relax a little,” Davis said. “We’re going to play in a Turner County Tournament next week, so we’re going to have these guys going.”

The Greenwaves improved to 6-2 and Davis said he liked what he saw as the team will begin the second half of their Region 1-A schedule in January. Bishop led the Greenwaves with 18 points, while Thompson finished with 15. Keontae Terry and Tiavelle Stephens finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.

As for Dougherty, it was another frustrating loss that coach Ty Randolph thought his team played well enough to win. However, too many turnovers cost the Trojans.

“The biggest thing is that we showed immaturity and lack of experience,” the first-year coach said. “We were right there at the end. But we’re going to keep coaching them so we can get where we need to go.”

Quimby led the Trojans with 14 points, while Charles Porter added 13 and Whatley 10.