VALDOSTA — Two games, two wins for Valdosta’s basketball teams on Friday night.

Valdosta’s girls rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Lowndes 50-45. Then the Valdosta boys completed the sweep with a 60-48 win at the VHS gymnasium.

On Friday night, Valdosta’s basketball teams played some of their best basketball in the last 11 1/2 minutes. The Wildcats outscored the Vikings 26-10 in the final 11 1/2 minutes, while the Lady Wildcats outscored the Vikettes 28-11 in the last 11 1/2 minutes.



Valdosta boys 60, Lowndes 48

The Vikings challenged the Wildcats for the first 20 minutes. But then the Wildcats caught fire, dominated the final 11 1/2 minutes and earned their third win over their crosstown rivals this year.

Lowndes’ boys started the third quarter with an 11-2 run, with six of those points coming from Tremayne Tippins, and turned a 31-27 Wildcat halftime lead into a 38-34 Viking lead.

At that point, Valdosta head coach Antonio Haynes called a timeout.

“We made some adjustments (during the timeout),” Haynes said. “The defense we were using wasn’t working, so we switched defenses.”

The adjustments worked, and the Wildcats caught fire. Rashad Lewis made a free throw. Then Willie Barrett got the ball inside on consecutive possessions and scored, putting the Wildcats back on top, 39-38. Terrance Foster drove the lane for a basket, then the Wildcats got the ball back, made three good passes down the floor and the third pass found Barrett under the hoop for another basket, giving Valdosta a 43-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

About 2 1/2 minutes into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats went on another run. Lewis made a jumper. Dominique Bullock drained a three-pointer, then 94 seconds later, he made another one. Kiante Scruggs scored inside, and Norman Taylor finished off the 12-0 run with two free throws. That run gave the Wildcats a 58-42 lead, and all but sealed the victory.

Early on, the first quarter was a back-and-forth game. Lowndes jumped out to a 6-2 lead, then Valdosta climbed in front with a 6-0 run, only to have Lowndes respond with consecutive baskets. Josh Clemons carried the Vikings in the first period, scoring 12 of their points.

Late in the first quarter, Avery Wells put Valdosta on top with a three-pointer, but Lowndes’ Kenny Moore answered with a three-pointer of his own with two seconds left, and the score was tied 20-20 after the first eight minutes.

Valdosta took the lead in the second quarter with a Taylor three-pointer and a three-point play by Scruggs (which included a big dunk). The Wildcats headed to the locker room with a 31-27 lead.

Taylor led all scorers with 19 points. Barrett added 12 points for the Wildcats.

Clemons led the Vikings with 18 points, but was the only Lowndes player with more than six points.

With the win, Valdosta improves to 17-5, and 5-2 in Region 1-AAAAA. Lowndes fell to 12-11, and 1-5 in region play.

“It’s another big region win,” Haynes said. “I’ll take a region win over anybody.”



Valdosta girls 50, Lowndes 45

Once again, a Valdosta-Lowndes girls game went down to the wire.

For the sixth time in their last seven meetings, the Lady Wildcats-Vikettes game was decided by less than six points on Friday. On this night, it was Valdosta who pulled out the victory, 50-45.

“I was extremely proud of our girls,” Valdosta head coach E.A. Wilcox said. “We picked it up (in the second half)."

The Lady Wildcats saved their best basketball for the final 12 minutes of the game. With four minutes left in the third quarter, they trailed 34-22. They outscored the Vikettes 28-11 the rest of the way.

“We didn’t have a good first half shooting. We shot the ball much better in the second half,” Wilcox admitted. “We came alive shooting the ball (in the second half). We came alive defensively.”

Down 34-22, Valdosta scored seven straight points (four of them by LaPorchia Bridges), and turned what had been a 12-point deficit into a five-point deficit, 34-29, heading into the fourth quarter.

Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, three Sierra Foster free throws in a span of eight seconds brought the Lady ’Cats within one point, 35-34. With just over five minutes left to play, Tiaera Phillips scored for Valdosta, then her cousin Stormm stole the ball and took it in for a layup, tying the score at 40-40.

With 3:31 left, Tiaera Phillips got the ball behind the arc and buried a three-pointer. That gave the Lady Wildcats their first lead of the night, 43-41. Lowndes’ Brittany Ingram tied the score with a basket at the other end of the floor.

Then Valdosta took over the game. Stormm Phillips gave the Lady Wildcats the lead again with a putback with 2:18 left. Then Shanieka Smith drove the lane for a basket. Free throws by Smith and Foster gave Valdosta a 49-43 lead with 59.5 seconds left in the game. On the other end, the Lady Wildcats’ defense held the Vikettes scoreless for almost three minutes.

Lowndes’ Jamesia Jones scored on a putback with 25 seconds left, but then Foster put the game away with a free throw with 10.6 seconds remaining to make the final score 50-45.

Lowndes led the entire first half. The Vikettes scored the game’s first six points, and 10 of the first 12. They held a 17-12 lead after one period.

Valdosta cut Lowndes’ lead to two points, 17-15, early in the second quarter, but the Vikettes responded with a 6-0 run to increase their lead back to eight. Maggie McGlamry’s three-pointer late in the half sent the Vikettes to the locker room at halftime with a 10-point lead, 30-20.

But the Lady Wildcats picked up their play after halftime, outscored the Vikettes 30-15 in the second half and rallied for the win.

Tiaera Phillips led all scorers with 11 points. Bridges and Foster added 10 points apiece for Valdosta. Kenya Durden was Lowndes’ leading scorer with 10 points, while McGlamry added eight.

With the win, Valdosta is now 15-4, and 4-3 in Region 1-AAAAA. Lowndes (21-2) still leads Region 1, with a 5-1 record. The Vikettes can clinch the regular season region title with a win over Colquitt County on Tuesday.