Clarke Central High School senior and varsity basketball player D’won Smith runs backwards during a basketball game for CCHS on Jan. 20 against Cedar Shoals High School in the New Gym. Photo by Owen Donnelly
The Clarke Central High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams played the Cedar Shoals High School varsity basketball teams on Jan. 20 in the New Gym at CCHS.
The Clarke Central High School varsity girls basketball team hosted Cedar Shoals High School on Jan. 20 in the CCHS New Gym.
The first quarter was well fought between both teams, but the CSHS Lady Jaguars inched out ahead with a 7-5 lead going into the second quarter.
“First quarter, we stayed focused and we played a decent game, I think we had too many turnovers and missed opportunities on offense the first half with our field goal percentage,” CCHS head varsity girls coach Carla Johnson said.
At the end of the second quarter, the Lady Jags scored a burst of points, putting the score at 30-17 going into halftime. In the third quarter, the CCHS Lady Gladiators defense struggled and there was a high number of turnovers. The Lady Jags continued to hold the lead at 41-27 at the end of the third quarter.
“Second half, we shot better but our turnovers and just defensive play wasn’t as strong as we needed to be,” Johnson said.
The final score was 58-44 with the Lady Jags on top.
“I told them, you know Monday back in the gym — ready to work we got turn around got another region game on Tuesday, so we just gotta get back in the gym and work,” Johnson said.
The final event was the varsity boys game. The game started off with a round of two-pointers and dunks from CCHS and CSHS The first quarter ended with a score of 17-9 with the Glads ahead.
“We played together as a team, moved the ball around and got easy baskets, and we played very well on the defensive end,” CCHS senior and varsity basketball player D’won Smith said.
The second quarter continued to see the Gladiators ahead ending with the Glads leading 32-23.
“We handled the pressure very well. We knew that they were a good team and that they just came off a win against Buford, a top team in Region 8-AAAAA, and that probably raised their confidence,” Smith said.
The third quarter was similar to the first and second, ending with Central in the lead with 49-33.
The game ended with a score of 64-51 Gladiators, gaining redemption for their loss on Dec. 16, 2017.
