VALDOSTA — The 8th Annual Charles Cooper Memorial Tip-Off Classic began Monday at Lowndes High School. Both the Valdosta varsity and Lowndes varsity teams were in action.

The tournament concludes today with four games. The Valdosta girls face Griffin at 4 p.m., followed by the Valdosta boys’ game against Griffin at 5:30 p.m. The Lowndes girls will host Warner Robins, while the Vikings will host Howard.



Valdosta girls 61, Warner Robins 50

The Valdosta girls used a 20-point performance from Stormm Phillips and 10 points from Destiny Covert to earn a 61-50 win over Warner Robins.

Eight different Valdosta players scored from the floor in the win, as the Lady Wildcats improved to 1-0 on the season.

The Lady Wildcats raced out to a 9-0 lead behind six points from Phillips, and were able to push their lead to double digits, 19-8, on a basket from Covert with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.  

In the second quarter, Warner Robins closed within six points of Valdosta thanks to foul shooting. The Lady Wildcats played the majority of the second quarter in foul trouble. Warner Robins scored seven of its 13 points in the quarter from the foul line.

A strong 9-2 run by Valdosta allowed the Lady Wildcats to pull ahead by 13 points (34-21) at halftime. During the run to close out the half, four different Valdosta players scored from the floor.

Phillips accounted for six of Valdosta’s 11 points in the third quarter, as the Lady ’Cats built a 20-point lead (45-25) with 3:11 remaining. But Valdosta’s hot shooting fell cold late in the frame, as Warner Robins managed to close within 13 points by quarter’s end.

In the fourth quarter, Warner Robins continued to hold Valdosta scoreless during its comeback bid. The Lady Wildcats were held without a basket for the opening 2 1/2 minutes of the final quarter, while Warner Robins closed within six points, 45-39. Then Valdosta found its shooting stroke, and put together an 11-0 run to build a 56-39 advantage.



Valdosta boys 86, Howard 54

The Valdosta boys’ basketball team started the 2012-13 season exactly as planned. The Wildcats crushed the Howard Huskies 86-54 Monday night, improving to 1-0 on the season.

Playing a multitude of players, which included the likes of some football players that joined the team Saturday, the Wildcats never trailed in the game and used a dominating second half to pull away for the 32-point win.

Senior Rashad Lewis scored a game-high 22 points, despite sitting out the majority of the fourth quarter while reserves played. Jason Robertson was the only other Wildcat in double figures. He finished with 13 points. Altogether, 11 different Wildcats scored on the night, including five in the fourth quarter.

Early on, the game was close. Valdosta didn’t build a lead any larger than eight points, until putting together a 15-4 run midway through the second quarter to go ahead 35-21. During the run, Lewis scored six points, while Coy Roberts nailed a pair of 3-pointers.

In the second half, the Wildcats wasted little time building onto their lead. Valdosta’s lead hit 20 points, 47-27, on a Lewis’ 3-pointer. Then Howard closed the gap and brought it within 11 points before the Wildcats finished the third quarter on a 10-2 run.

In the fourth quarter, it was all Valdosta. Playing the majority of the quarter with bench players, the Wildcats outscored the Huskies 26-13 in the fourth quarter, building a 32-point lead later in the quarter.



Lowndes girls 45, Griffin 39

The Lowndes Vikettes overcame a slow first quarter and used a commanding 17-3 run between the third and fourth quarters to beat the Griffin Lady Bears 45-39 Monday night.

The Vikettes’ run answered a 9-0 Griffin run that left Lowndes trailing 30-21 near the end of the third quarter.

During the run, six different Vikettes scored from the floor, as Lowndes improved to 2-1 on the season.

Tete Wilson finished with 12 points and Coretta Haddin added 10 for the Vikettes in the win.

Lowndes scored just four points in the opening quarter, falling into a 12-4 deficit at the end of the first eight minutes. The Vikettes didn’t score their first basket until the 4:30 mark of the first quarter, coming on a basket from Dione Arnold.

The shooting improved in the second quarter for the Vikettes, reducing their deficit to just three points at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Lowndes came out and managed to grab the lead on two separate occasions. The Vikettes’ first lead of the night came at the 6:11 mark off a Wilson basket. After Griffin managed to even the score at 20-20 with a free throw, Lowndes re-gained the lead on a basket from Lexus Miller.

Then Griffin put together an impressive 9-0 run to build a 30-21 lead, forcing several Lowndes turnovers in the process.  

That’s when the Vikettes answered with their 17-3 run to grab the lead, which they would not surrender for the remainder of the game.



Griffin boys 74, Lowndes 58

The Lowndes boys’ basketball team couldn’t get coach Kingston Clark his 101st win at Lowndes Monday night.

After winning his 100th game as the Vikings’ coach Saturday night at Tattnall County, Clark and his Vikings fell to the Griffin Bears 74-58 in the final game of Day 1 of the Charles Cooper Tip-off Classic.

The Vikings led just once in the game, and couldn’t stop the Bears, especially late.

Tremayne Tippins led Lowndes with 16 points, while Justin Williams added 13. Larry Brown and Eric Henderson each finished with eight.

The first quarter was filled with plenty of fouls by both teams. Griffin fouled so much it was in the double bonus by the 2:20 mark of the first quarter.

That allowed Lowndes to attempt at a free throw with every Bear foul. Despite the ability to go to the line, the Vikings managed just nine points from the charity stripe for the remainder of the half.

Griffin led by just three points following the first quarter (14-11), but separated itself in the second quarter by using a 10-0 run across two minutes to lead 30-18.

In the second half, fouls weren’t as much of an issue, early on, as they were in then first half. Both teams managed to play the majority of the third quarter without fouling on another.

With the teams running up and down the court, the Vikings closed within four points, 42-38, before Griffin re-extended its lead to over 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, the Bears outscored the Vikings 25-16 to secure the win.