Monroe splits with Bainbridge

 

The Tornadoes and the Bearcats battled close all night. After leading 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, Monroe got on a bit of a streak when the defense opened up three straight fastbreak baskets by Justin Burns – two of them dunks that electrified the home crowd. But the Bearcats battled back and trailed only 24-22 at the half.

 

After Jackson’s shot at the buzzer to end the third, Monroe led by two points again, but the Tornadoes’ shooting went cold in the fourth. The Bearcats hit two threes and a two-point basket to lead 44-38 with 5:25 remaining and Monroe head coach Michael Hoffpauir called time to regroup. The timeout didn’t stop the Bearcats as they stretched the lead to 10 – 48-38 before Jackson finally scored again after driving into the lane and hitting an underhanded layup beneath the basket. Monroe crawled back slowly to close the gap to five, but could get no closer.

 

Burns led the Monroe scorers with 16 points on the night while Jackson scored 13. The loss is the second to Bainbridge on this young season and it drops Monroe’s record to 3-4 – the same number of losses the Golden Tornadoes had all of last season. Bainbridge improved to 8-1.

 

Monroe’s girls led only 22-17 at the half but blew open the game in the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Bearcats 19-4, including 13 third-quarter points from senior AaLiyah Robinson. 

 

During the third quarter, Robinson reached the 1,000-point milestone in her high school career and a timeout was called to honor her achievement. Robinson proceeded to score 12 more points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Tornadoes ran away with the big win.

 

Robinson finished the night with a career-high 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked four shots. Cierra Lunsford and Saniyah Graham each added eight for the winners. Bainbridge senior Sarah Holley led the Lady Bearcats with 21 points – she hit seven three-pointers in the game.