VALDOSTA — Alisha Crawford scored 19 points and made four free throws in the final 5.2 seconds to lift the Valdosta Lady Wildcats past the Lowndes Vikettes, 57-53, in both basketball teams’ season openers on Monday night in the Charles Cooper Tipoff Classic.
Like many Valdosta-Lowndes games, Monday’s game will be one that’s remembered for a long time.
Lowndes’ Keira Peak tied the game on a layup with only a few seconds remaining, but the scoreboard read 53-52 in favor of Valdosta, instead of 53-53. Thinking they were trailing, the Vikettes fouled Crawford with 5.2 seconds left, and sent her to the free throw line, where she swished two free throws to give Valdosta a two-point lead. Since Lowndes’ foul was ruled intentional, the Lady ’Cats got possession after the free throws. Lowndes fouled Crawford again, and she made two more free throws to extend Valdosta’s lead and ice the game.
“I really don’t want to place blame on anybody,” Lowndes head coach Shan Garner said. “I think it would have changed our coaching philosophy, being tied, and we would have sprinted back and tried to make them make a play. It’s early for everybody. It’s early for pressure-packed situations on the clock, book (keeper), officials. We knew, playing this game, the first one of the year, that this was a potential scenario.”
The win is the first ever for new Valdosta head coach E.A. Wilcox, and he did it against his team’s archrival.
“It’s big for the program, because we haven’t beaten them in a long time,” Wilcox said. “I can’t remember the last time we beat them. It’s pretty big for the young ladies. We have girls on the team who have never beaten them on a varsity level, so that’s a positive for them.”
The Lady ’Cats’ win over the Vikettes is the first win for a Valdosta High team over a Lowndes High team in any sport since the Wildcats beat the Vikings in baseball action back in March.
The game was a back-and-forth contest for much of the first three quarters. At the end of the third quarter, and into the fourth quarter, the Lady ’Cats went on a 10-0 run, behind six points from Kendra Patrick, to take a 44-37 lead.
Lowndes’ Danyelle Jones hit a 3-pointer to end the run, and with under two minutes left, she hit a free throw to bring the Vikettes within one. However, the Lady ’Cats went 10-for-10 from the free throw line over the last two minutes to escape with a four-point win.
No free throws were bigger than the final four by Crawford with under six seconds left.
“She played really well for us tonight,” Wilcox said. “One of the things about her is she’s a leader on the floor, as well as off the floor. She did a great job tonight of icing those free throws. Icing those free throws was very key for us to win.”
The Lady ’Cats will try to get off to a 2-0 start today at 1:30 p.m., when they take on Echols County. The Vikettes will play Bainbridge at 7:30 p.m. Both games are at Lowndes High.
Bainbridge boys 72, Valdosta boys 58
The defending Region 1-AAAAA boys basketball champions didn’t get off to the start they were hoping for.
The Bainbridge Bearcats defeated the Valdosta Wildcats in their season opener, 72-58, on Monday in the Charles Cooper Tipoff Classic.
Reigning Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year Jay Rome scored 21 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats couldn’t ride their big man to a 1-0 start. Rome converted a 3-point play with 1:54 remaining in the game to cut the Bearcats’ lead to six, but Devon Baulkmon responded with a 3-pointer of his own to seal the game for Bainbridge.
Rome is the only returning starter for the Wildcats, and the team also lost key reserves from last year’s team, which went 24-1 in the regular season.
The game was tied 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, and a 3-pointer extended the Bearcats’ lead to 34-28 right before halftime.
In the second half, Bainbridge wore down the smaller Wildcats inside. Justin Harris slashed to the basket several times, and finished the game with a game-high 24 points.
Valdosta will try to rebound tonight against Lowndes at 9 p.m. Lowndes’ game against Lanier County on Monday night was not completed by press time.
Local Sports
Lady ’Cats beat Vikettes
Crawford scores 19, seals win with 4 free throws in final 5.2 seconds
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