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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 3B
TIED UP
Apalachee senior point guard Omer Ahmed tries to get inside against Winder-
Barrow’s Lamonta Mack and Tramon Campbell during Tuesday night’s game.
Ahmed scored 12 points, including 9 after halftime, in the final game of his
high school career. Other Wildcat seniors playing their final game were Ethan
Morris, Rashad Eberhart and Ryan Miller.
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Winder-Barrow coach Ron Garren talks to his team during a timeout Tuesday
night. The Bulldoggs defeated crosstown rival Apalachee 71-60 in overtime to
advance to the GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA semifinals and clinch their first state
playoff berth since the 2009-10 season. Winder-Barrow will face top-ranked
Gainesville at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the region semifinals at Apalachee. The
Wildcats finished the year at 11-15 and missed the state playoffs for a second
consecutive season. Photos by Scott Thompson
Tournament continued from IB
who were here to witness
this tonight.
“So we feel like the best
is still ahead for our pro
gram.”
The Bulldoggs jumped
out on top early and led
throughout most of regula
tion, going up by as many
as 11 halfway through the
third quarter.
But the Wildcats steadi
ly clawed their way back
in it and caught up late
in the fourth when Omer
Ahmed sank a pair of free
throws to make it a 53-53
game with 3:12 remaining.
Then after the Bulldoggs
briefly regained the lead
on a Deon Williams bas
ket, Apalachee sophomore
Brandon Bannis stepped
up and knocked down a
three to give the Wildcats a
56-55 lead with 2:46 to go.
Both teams would then
go quiet, exchanging turn
overs and missed shots,
before Ahmed hit two
more free throws to extend
the lead to 58-55 with 32
seconds remaining.
At that point, the Wild
cats, who were sitting on
four fouls, opted to start
fouling the Bulldoggs in
an effort to take away the
3-point shot.
They were successful
the first two times, but not
the third.
Butler, who finished with
a game-high 26 points,
including 17 after half
time. got open at the top
left of the arc and drained
the three to send the game
to an extra period.
“They just moved the
ball quicker that time,”
Apalachee coach Kevin
Morris said. “I didn't really
expect them to shoot it that
quickly. I expected them to
run something and then get
a shot off, but Terence was
open early enough and he
just made shots for them
all night long.”
A pair of Lamonta Mack
free throws with 1:28 left
in overtime gave Wind
er-Barrow the lead for
good at 62-60, and then
after the Wildcats were
called for traveling. Butler
delivered the final dagger
— a long 3-pointer, his
sixth of the night — to
make it 65-60 with 53 sec
onds to go.
The Bulldoggs then took
advantage of another pair
of Apalachee turnovers
and went 6-for-6 from the
free throw line in the final
minute to wrap it up.
“We knew Apalachee
had a fine team and that
they would make a run at
us,” Garren said. “You’ve
got to hand it to them. They
did a good job of executing
their 5 Out offense. They
were able to penetrate our
defense there in the second
half and it put them in a
position to win.
“I thought our kids
held their composure. You
can’t say enough about
our seniors, but especially
Terence. He’s played huge
for us this year and he hit
some great shots tonight.”
It was the third meeting
this season between the
two teams — all within a
span of the last 18 days —
and the second consecutive
victory for the Bulldoggs
after losing their previous
nine against the Wildcats
going all the way back to
the 2011-12 campaign.
The Wildcats were hurt
down the final stretch of
the year by the season-end
ing knee injury suffered
by 6-foot-6 junior center
Derek Miller.
Miller’s absence Tues
day night took away the
advantage for the Wildcats
against a Winder-Barrow
team without much height
on the interior.
“Having that big man
would have helped for
sure,” said Morris, who
instead now has to say
goodbye to four Wildcat
seniors, including his son,
Ethan, Ahmed, Rashad
Eberhart and Ryan Miller.
“I hate it for those guys,”
Morris said. “With Ethan
being one of them, the
other three have all kind
of grown up around my
house. It’s definitely a
special group of seniors.
We’re going to really miss
their leadership.”
Meanwhile, Wind
er-Barrow now turns its
attention to trying to pull
off a massive upset.
In his post-game speech,
Garren brought up North
Carolina State’s improba
ble victory over Houston
in the 1983 NCAA Men’s
Division I championship
— well over a decade and
nearly two before the cur
rent players on the Bull-
dogg roster were even
born.
“We’re going into Fri
day’s game prepared to
win.” Garren said. “We’re
not just happy to be there.
They’ve got a tremendous
team obviously and we’re
a huge underdog.
“But that’s the reason
you play the game.”
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WBHS continued from IB
erase a three-point deficit and fall behind a point again
before the final possession. With a minute to play and
Lanier up 44-41, Watson, who finished with a team-high
15 points, stole the ball and scored a quick bucket to cut
the lead down to one.
Then Lexi Maddox got a hand on Lanier’s inbound
pass and forced it off a Lady Longhorn player, giving
Winder-Barrow the ball. Lattice Perkins then put Wind
er-Barrow ahead on a quick basket with 39.1 seconds left.
Lanier’s Kezyah Holliman was fouled on the Lady
Longhorns’ next possession and knocked down both free
throws to briefly give her team back the lead.
Winder-Barrow, which mostly breezed through its
region slate, had to sweat it out a little more the final
week after nationally top-rated junior center Olivia Nel-
son-Ododa went down Jan. 31 at Gainesville with a sea
son-ending knee injury.
With the 6-foot-5 Nelson-Ododa out of the starting line
up, the Lady Doggs moved senior forward Lexi Maddox
inside in a 66-49 win Friday against Habersham Central
and again Saturday.
But the 6-foot College of Charleston signee responded,
scoring 13 points and doing solid work on the glass.
“She got inside and scored tonight so we’re proud of
that,” Thomas said of Maddox’s effort. “Everybody has
had to shift around and make adjustments. It’s just going
to take some more time, but to win those last two without
Olivia on the floor was a big confidence booster for them.
They know we have work to do. We’re not satisfied with
some of the things we did tonight and we’ve just got to
get better.”
While not having the dominant presence of Nelson-Odo
da presents a challenge to the Lady Doggs’ championship
hopes, Thomas said the focus for now is one day at a time.
“That’s all we did last year during our run,” Thomas
said. “Just take it one matchup at a time and see what the
other team does. As long as we’re playing as hard as we
can and as smart as we can, we feel pretty good about it.”
Barrow Regional Medical Center is now
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow.
Barrow Regional Medical Center has joined the award winning team at
Northeast Georgia Medical Center to bring Northeast Georgia Health System's
expansive network of care closer to home. As a part of the health system, the
hospital now has a new name: Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow.
Learn more about Northeast Georgia Health System at www.nghs.com, and
connect with NGHS on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest news
about this exciting change.
Northeast Georgia Medical Center
BARROW
316 N Broad St., Winder, GA 30680 I nghs.com/barrow