Bulldogs With Playoff Win
What a season it was for the Toombs County High School Bulldog basketball teams. Both teams made it to the GHSA State AA Playoffs with the boys winning their first playoff game since 1998 as they defeated Jasper County in the first round. The girls played Washington County in the first round and the boys moved on to play Butler in the second round before falling.
Girls vs. Washington
The Lady Bulldogs played well on the road last Tuesday against Washington County, but a bad second period was the key to the win for Washington County's Golden Hawks.
Toombs had the early lead 3-0, but Washington came back and was up 10-7 later in the first. By the end of the first the score was 16-10 with the Lady Bulldogs trailing.
In the second the Hawks went on a run. They pushed their lead to 23-10 and by the end of the first half they were on top 39-16.
In the third period TCHS kept pace, but were still trailing 57-31, and Washington took the win, 75-45 over Toombs.
The loss ended the season for the Lady Bulldogs with a record of 11-14.
Boys vs. Jasper
Toombs was into the first round of continued from page
the playoffs and hosted the Jasper County/Monticello Hurricances on Wednesday of last week.
TCHS got on the board first with a fast-break basket by Tyler Heath. Julian Mann added to that with a steal and a basket, and then a tip in by Brantley Upshaw made it 6-0. DJ McKinney got another fast-break basket, and by the end of the first the score was 15-8 with TCHS in the lead.
In the second Jasper went on a run and closed the lead to 17-14. The game was tied at 20-20, but the Bulldogs held a 26-22 lead at the end of the first half.
In the third Heath made it 28-22 with 7:15 to go in the third. Dominic Eason added a basket on a strong move in the paint, and then Upshaw tipped one in to make it 32-24 with 6:20 left in the third. Eason added a pair of freethrows, and Mann made it 36-24 with 5:05 on the clock.
McKinney hit a pull up from 15 and then buried a three from the corner as Toombs pushed their lead to 41-24 with 2:45 left in the third. By the end of the third period the score was 46-29 with Toombs in control of the game.
In the fourth it was 49-30 with 6:20 left, and then TCHS was up 51-37 with 4:35 left after Jasper hit a three-pointer. Toombs was up 54-39 with three minutes to play and a basket by Mckinney made it 56-39 with two minutes left.
Eason got another basket in the paint, and Demetrius Cutler hit a shot for a 60-39 lead with just over one minute left. Toombs held on and took the win 64-43 over the Hurricanes.
TCHS was led by Mann with 22 points, and Mckinney and Eason each scored 10 points in the win. That set up Toombs to take on Butler in the second round of the State Playoffs.
Boys vs. Butler
On Saturday the Bulldogs of Toombs met their match in the Bulldogs of Butler. Toombs struggled to get the offense going and couldn't get a shot to fall in the first period of the game as they fell behind early and were down 27-1 at the end of the first period.
In the second Butler extended their lead to 50-11 by halftime. Toombs was down 71-20 at the end of the third period, and Butler took the win, 76-25 over TCHS. Toombs ended the season with a 7-19 record, but peaked at the right time as they took second in the Region Tournament and got their first playoff win in over 20 years.
