Early County sweeps pair from Albany

ALBANY —The devil was in the details for Albany High as they fell to Early County 62-46 Friday night at the Archie Arena at Albany High School.

The Indians shot 20 for 38 on the night from the free throw line and head coach Archie Chatmon said that was the difference in the game.

“Free throws…it really came down to that. We had an opportunity, we had a little lead and had the opportunity to get some separation and basically that’s what it came down to,” he said.

Early County held a slight 22-21 lead at the half, but the Indians came out in the third and tied the game at 27 with 4:47 left. Early scored and reclaimed the lead by three, but Darrell Bryant answered with a layup to make it a one point game.

The Indians would cut the lead to two points several times in the third but turnovers and missed free throws prevented them from taking it. The Bobcats scored six quick points to close the quarter and grabbed a 39-31 to start the fourth. Chatmon said his team was out of position defensively and Early County took advantage to close the third.

“That’s the chance you take. When you get down, you’ve got to extend your defense,” he said. “When you extend your defense and you’re playing against quicker guards, they’re tough to handle.”

Adrian Mills was the high point man for the Indians, finishing with 12 points, followed by Bryant with 10.

The Indians have played five games since last Friday with no practices in between and one more on Saturday. All things considered, Chatmon said he likes the effort and hustle shown and hopes it continues as the region tournament approaches.

“I thought the effort was really good tonight considering how much basketball we’ve played,” he said. “They’re young. They’re 16 and 17 years old, so they’ve got more energy than I’ve got. I thought they looked pretty strong tonight and hope we look at least as strong tomorrow night.”

Early County girls 55, Albany 40

A week of playing catch up took a toll on the Albany Squaws Friday night as they fell to Early County. The team has been trying to fit in all of its rescheduled games missed in January before the region tournament begins. Head coach Candenessa Thomas said it showed in the fourth quarter as Albany scored just seven points while giving up 19.

The Squaws were down 17-11 early in the second quarter before a 13-0 run that included two 3-pointers from Zenovia Ellis put them up 24-17.

Early County threated to overtake Albany in the third quarter, but a three-point play from KaMyah St. Rose made it a 29-24 game with 6:30 left in the period. After pushing hard in the second quarter and maintaining in the third, the Squaws’ offense stalled in the fourth.

Ellis and Shamya Loman both finished with 13 points to lead Albany.

Thomas said having such a large disruption in her young team’s routine in January caused them to regress in some ways. As the region tournament begins next week, she said she’s just encouraging them to go out and leave it all on the court.

“They’ve just got to play,” she said. “I know being out so long in some instances we don’t remember plays, but I’m telling them to just play and play hard.”