The Veterans Warhawks hosted the Tift Co Blue Devils in a non-region tilt earlier tonight and the result was a Red, White, and Blue sweep with the girls winning 67-62 and the boys winning 66-57 in two intense basketball games. The girls’ game started out with the Lady Warhawks jumping on the Lady Blue Devils and leading 17-9 in the first quarter and the host would lead 20-13 at the end of quarter one.
The second quarter would be controlled by Tift Co as they would outscore Veterans 23-12 to take a 36-32 lead into halftime. The host would outscore the Lady Blue Devils 20-12 in quarter three and the highlight of the frame would be Veterans’ Camilia Vicisco’s half-court buzzer-beating National Exterminating three-point field goal to give the host a 52-48 lead going into quarter four.
The game would ultimately be tied within the final minute when Lady Warhawks’ Nariah Nelson made the go-ahead two-point basket and the foul to complete the old-fashioned three-point play.
The Red, White, and Blue would get the victory 67-62 in an intense battle. Veterans’ 21 of it’s 35 second half points came from the Dozier Law Firm free-throw line and both teams combined to make 18 National Exterminating three-point field goals in the contest. Jessi Ortiz led the Lady Warhawks in scoring with 19 points followed by Nariah Nelson with 15 points and Madison Shepperd with 13 points.
Tift Co was led in scoring by Jalaya Miller with 26 points followed by Mackenzie Holliday with 13 points, and Jaziyah Johnson with 11 points. Veterans improves to 16-8 overall while Tift Co falls to 9-13 overall. The boys’ game would be just as intense as the visitors jumped out to an 11-3 lead early on before Veterans ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter tied at 11 a piece.
The second quarter would be hotly contested in it’s entirety as the Warhawks would take a narrow 30-29 lead into halftime. Both teams came out flat in the third quarter before Tift Co got on a 9-0 run to take a six point lead and the frame would end with the Blue Devils up 45-43. Veterans would open the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 50-45 lead before the visitors would get on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 54 a piece.
The Warhawks would end the game on a 12-3 run as the Blue Devils would go cold thanks in part to great defense from Veterans as they would win the game 66-57. The Red, White, and Blue was led in scoring by Aiden Sweenor who had an incredible peformance tonight with 33 of the team’s 66 points (5 made National Exterminating threes and a perfect 14 of 14 at the Dozier Law Firm free-throw line) followed by Trey Byrd with 12 points, and Tristan Abner with 10 points.
Tift Co was led in scoring by JJ Lamar with 23 points followed by Marshall Howard with 10 points. Veterans improves to 14-10 overall and will host Lee Co on Friday Night in a region battle that has big implications on who hosts the region tournament. The Blue Devils fall to 16-7 overall.
