PREP NOTEBOOK: Worth County girls provide reason for optimism

The Worth County High School girls basketball team has been through some tough seasons recently, but there are reasons to be optimistic. The Lady Rams are currently .500 in Region 1-AAAA play and for the first time in four seasons, have won more than three region games.

Worth secured their third region victory Tuesday night by beating Cairo 70-54. It was the Lady Rams’ second highest scoring game of the season and marked their second straight victory. They also beat Thomas County Central on Saturday night.

“It is huge for the girl’s confidence,” Worth coach John Popham said. “It is pretty big. We are taking some big steps and we are beating people that we should beat. I’m hoping to compete with some of the big boys. We will found out real quick.”

This weekend will serve as a good test for Worth County as they face two of the top teams in the region. They welcome Bainbridge on Friday night, then travel to Americus-Sumter to face A’Tyanna Gaulden and the first-place Lady Panthers.

The Lady Rams have youth on their side. In Tuesday night’s game, freshman DeAnna Williams scored 20 points while sophomore DeAundra Smith had 21 points. The only senior on the team is center Lindsey Toneygay.

The turnaround has helped the Lady Rams garner some support from locals.

“We are starting to garner some support from people who don’t normally support us,” Popham said. “Around the community, some people that are normally negative about us are being more positive.”

Monroe wins thriller

The Monroe Tornadoes hit a four-game win streak with a victory over Americus-Sumter Tuesday night. Monroe won a 56-51 triple overtime thriller to help keep them near the top of the region standings.

Monroe has won seven of its last eight games. The Tornadoes’ only loss came against region leader Worth County.

“Our senior leadership has really done well during the streak,” Monroe coach Marquis Davis said. “Trentavious Jackson and K’Naurtica George gave us great games and excellent minutes on Tuesday night.”

The Tornadoes have four games left, including a matchup with city rival Albany Friday night, then a home game against Crisp County on Saturday. They have already beaten both teams this year.

“We are going to have to continue to take care of the basketball like we’ve been doing,” Davis said. “We also have to keep getting off to those great starts. The past five or six games, we have really gotten off to great starts.”

This and that

The Worth County boys have a tough task this weekend facing two of the top teams in the region on back-to-back nights. They host Bainbridge on Friday, then travel to Americus-Sumter on Saturday. The Rams currently have a 10-game win streak…The Albany boys have put together a three-game win streak. They now have four region victories.