Albany Monroe beats Columbus to earn top spot and host region tourney; Buzzer-beater gives Dougherty second
By Joe Whitfield
Sports Editor
COLUMBUS – The Monroe Golden Tornadoes (20-5, 8-2) survived a tough battle with the Columbus Blue Devils, 50-46, Friday night in Columbus to secure the top spot in Region 1-AAA and earn the right to host the region championship game on their home floor in Albany.
Nehemiah Tinch scored seven fourth-quarter points to help the Tornadoes stay in front though no Tornadoes reached double figures in scoring. Tinch had nine points on the night, as did Jaquan Maddox. Justin Burns scored eight while Lorenzo Still, Irvin Ellis and Tommy Knighton each scored six.
The Lady Nadas of Monroe (17-8, 8-2) had no trouble in the girl’s game, winning 64-29.
KJ Acree recorded her first triple-double scoring 26 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and handing out 10 assists. She also stole the ball six times. Ciarra Lunsford recorded a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. She also stole the ball five times and doled five assists.
The Lady Nadas finished second in the region behind Carver and will play Wednesday at Carver. Should the Lady Nadas win Wednesday’s semifinal game, they will play for the region championship at Monroe on Friday.
The Golden Tornadoes are now off until Thursday. The region championship game will be at Monroe next Friday night.
Dougherty 67 Carver 66 OT
COLUMBUS- The Dougherty Trojans (18-7, 8-2) secured the second seed in the Region 1-AAA tournament Friday night when Kaleke Singletary-Jones hit a buzzer-beater in overtime to give Dougherty a 67-66 win at Carver High School in Columbus.
The game was tied 53-53 after regulation. The Trojans got seven overtime points from Jeremiah Kitchen but Singletary-Jinks’ buzzer-beater gave the Trojans the first-round bye in the region tournament. Singeltary-Jinks finished the night with 27 points, Jawuan Jinks scored 12 and Kitchen finished with 10.
The Trojans now wait to see who the highest seed left in the tournament is for Thursday night’s semi-final round at Monroe High School.
REGION TOURNAMENT
Round 1
Girls – Monday
No. 3 Dougherty vs. (6) Crisp Co. (at Dougherty, 6 p.m.)
No. 5 Columbus at (4) Thomasville
Boys – Tuesday
No. 6 Thomasville at (3) Carver
No. 5 Crisp Co. at (4) Columbus
Semi-final Round
Girls – Wednesday
No. 2 Monroe vs. highest seed left (at Carver)
No. 1 Carver vs. lowest seed left (at Carver)
Boys – Thursday
No. 2 Dougherty vs. highest seed left (at Monroe) 6 p.m.
No. 1 Monroe vs. lowest seed left (at Monroe) 7:30 p.m.
Championship Day
FRIDAY at Monroe
4:00 pm Girl’s consolation game
5:30 pm Boy’s consolation game
7:00 p.m. Girl’s Championship game
8:30 p.m. Boy’s Championship game
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