Alaya Grane was a monster at the free-throw line. Kamia Ridley was a presence from the floor. Combined they helped Northside’s girls pull off a 55-40 Region 1-AAAAAA win over Valdosta Friday at home.
All of Grane’s work came in the second-fourth quarters. She went to the line twice in the second quarter and made three out of four. She went to the line three times in the second and made all six opportunities. She went twice in the fourth and made three of four. All told she was 12-of-14 and with a pair of buckets added in, scored 16 points.
Meanwhile, Ridley had a basket in each of the first three quarters and three in the fourth to come away with 12 points. Nyla Spencer also had eight.
The Lady Eagles trailed 15-9 after one, but flipped the script in quarter two, 16-8, to go into the half up 25-23.
They stretched that to 42-33 with a 17-point third versus the Lady Wildcats’ 10. They then outscored Valdosta 13-7 in the fourth to pick up their first division win after two losses. They improved to 5-3 overall while the visitor’s dropped to 0-2, 8-5.
Northside’s boys were unable to recover from a slow start in the nightcap and fell 83-65. The slow start translated into a four-point first quarter. The Vikings in turn scored 23. The Eagles were also outscored 17-12 in the second so went into the locker room down 40-16.
A 30-point third gave Northside a chance. Just over half of that came via Tre Grane. He was held to just four points – two each – in the first and second quarters. He scored 16 in the third. Gage Williams chipped in eight to make it a 10-point game, 56-47, at the end of the period.
Valdosta recovered its momentum, however, and went on to outscore the home team 27-19 for the win.
Grane added six more – he was four-for-four at the line – in the fourth to finish with 24 points. Williams managed 10. Calvin Bowers also hit three treys for nine points.
The win put the Wildcats at the top of Region 1-AAAAAA. They improved to 2-0, 13-2 overall. Northside dropped to 1-2, 7-4.
Elsewhere, Veterans was at Ware County for a Region 1-AAAAA matchup. That resulted in a sweep.
The girls earned a much-needed win, 48-43, to improve to 1-1 in the division, 6-8 overall. Ware fell to 0-2, 5-4.
The Warhawks won once again, 56-36. It was close at first, 8-all at the half, but Veterans outscored its host by at least five – 16-7, 19-13, 13-8 – over the next three quarters to ensure the victory.
It improved to 2-0 in the region, 11-0 overall. The Gators fell to 0-2, 2-8.
Perry was also at Rutland. The girls lost that one 39-35. The boys’ results were unknown as of this time.
The Lady Panthers didn’t really get moving in the right direction until the second half. They were outscored 8-4,6-2 in the first to trail 14-6 at the break.
They then outscored their fellow Region 4-AAAA opponent 13-12 in the third and 16-13 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.
They dropped to 1-3 in the division, 3-4 overall. The Lady Hurricanes improved to 2-2, 3-5.
