Newspaper Page Text
Page 2B
February 7, 2018
&BEporter
Mary Persons honors 10 basketball seniors
Kver Shannon, No. 5, was escorted by her motherTeknikia
Harvey and her grandmother Sharon Harvey. Shannon has
lettered in basketball for four years. She plans to attend col
lege.
Abigail Hightower, No. 41, was escorted by her parents
David and Amanda Hightower. Hightower has lettered in
basketball for four years. She plans to attend the University
of Georgia.
Laila Bell, No. 44, was escorted by her parents Allen Bell and
Wendy Calloway. Bell has lettered in basketball for one year.
She plans to attend Georgia State University.
Anrekia Weaver, No. 1, was escorted by his parents Calvin
and Lacheryl Barkley, his brotherTrey Weaver and his nephew
Mason Weaver. Weaver has lettered in basketball for two years.
He plans to attend college and major in physical therapy.
Tre Edge, No. 2, was escorted by his mother Charita Edge
and brother Chanon Edge. Edge has lettered in basketball
for three years. He plans to attend college and major in com
puter information systems.
Cameron Holden, No. 15, was escorted by his parents James
and Valentina Holden and sister Aleah Holden. Holden has
lettered in basketball for four years. He plans to attend col
lege and play basketball.
Kam Calloway, No. 12, was escorted by his
mother Lenesha Calloway. Calloway has let
tered in basketball for one year. He plans to
attend Middle Georgia State University and
major in physical therapy.
Tre Slaton, No. 14, was escorted by his sister
Daishja Slaton and niece Kassidy Lewis.
Slaton has lettered in basketball for one year.
He plans to attend college and play football.
Jamari Davis, No. 22, was escorted by his
grandmother Brenda Bowden. Davis has let
tered in basketball for one year. He plans to
attend college and major in psychology.
Jaques Watkins, No. 24, was escorted by his
motherToshia James. Watkins has lettered in
basketball for one year. He plans to join the
U.S. Army.
Pictured from left to right: Rashad Hughley, Albeyon Fields, Quandarius McDowell and Rodquez
Lyons were the girls and boys basketball managers for 2017-18. (Photos/Richard Dumas)
MP BOYS
Continued from PagelB
fourth quarter at 64-52.
Morton then drained a
comer three-pointer to
open the final period, and
MP had suddenly pushed
its lead back out to 15 and
appeared poised to cruise.
But without Holden’s
ball-hanclling and interior
defense, a sloppy Bulldogs’
squad allowed the Panthers
to climb back into the game
once again. Perry would
eventually trim MP’s lead
to as few as four points
at 72-68 on a Euro-step
layup by Jake Smith with
1:58 left. A key sequence
seconds later then enabled
MP to hold on. Edge made
the first of two free throws,
but MP guard Desmond
Williams grabbed the offen
sive rebound when Edge
missed the second. The
extra possession resulted
in a layup by Tre Slaton
as well as a Perry foul for
the three-point play to give
MP a 76-68 edge. Moments
later, inconsistent officiat
ing reared its head at a cru
cial moment when a Perry
assistant coach received
a technical foul with 1:23
to play and Perry trailing
by just six points. Morton
knocked down a pair of
tree throws, and another
Slaton layup seconds later
gave MP a 10-point lead at
80-70. The Bulldogs would
then hold for the eight-
point win despite Smith’s
game-high 34 points on 15
of 23 shooting.
Morton led MP with 17
points. Tre Slaton and
Desmond Williams each
scored 16 points. Two
other Bulldogs were also
in double figures with
Edge finishing with 13 and
Holden ending up with 12
in fewer than nine minutes
of action. Perry’s Smith
was joined in double figures
by teammates Keyovione
Whitlock and Jartavious
Jackson, who had 16 and
13, respectively.
Nix said it wasn’t neces
sarily a pretty conclusion
to the win, but a lot of
veteran players stepped
up to fill the void left by
Holden, including seldom-
used senior forward Kam
Calloway, who played key
minutes down the stretch
and contributed a late bas
ket.
“As bad as I feel about
Cam Holden hurting his
ankle, I’m really proud that
Kam Calloway came in and
helped us at that time,” Nix
said. “I’ve been wanting
something good to happen
for him, and it did tonight.”
Nix said Morton, who
connected on four of seven
three-point attempts, also
responded in Holden’s
absence.
Nix said, “I said to him:
‘Now that’s Cam’s gone out,
you’ve got to pick up that
slack because you’ve got
the ability to.’ So does Tre
Edge. And so I felt like he
knew we needed it, and he
stepped up. A few times I’d
like to have some of those
turnovers back but as far
as being in position and
making shots and making
free throws at the end, it’s
the kind of thing I’d been
wanting him to do. And he
had to do it. So I’m proud
of him.”
Three nights later, the
Bulldogs, minus Holden,
dropped just their third
contest of the season in a
65-61 road loss at Spalding
on Friday. MP had just
beaten the Jaguars by 42
points with Holden six
nights earlier on Jan. 27
as MFs senior star scored
his 2,000th career point.
Holden is believed to be the
first Bulldog boys basket
ball player ever to eclipse
2,000 points. MP girls’
stars and future Division
I standouts LaToya Davis
and Keke Calloway also
accomplished the feat.
Sans Holden, MP fell
behind the Jaguars 20-13
on Friday through one
quarter. Spalding then
extended its lead to 15
points at 35-20 at halftime
before MP pulled to within
II points at 46-35 through
three quarters. The
Bulldogs mounted a late
rally, outpointing Spalding
26-19 in the fourth quarter
but still fell by short by
four.
Morton, who made five
three-pointers, led MP with
16 points. Edge, Slaton and
Weaver were also in double
figures with 15, 11 and
10, respectively. Weaver
also had a team-high 11
rebounds and five assists.
The Bulldogs’ struggles
on Friday can largely be
traced to the free throw
line, where MP uncharac
teristically made just. 11 of
24 foul shots.
The No. 2 seed Bulldogs,
who guaranteed them
selves a AAAA state play
off berth thanks to their
second-place regular season
finish, will next face No. 3
seed Spalding for the third
time in 11 days at 5:30 p.m.
on Wednesday at James P.
Evans Gymnasium in the
semifinals of the Region
2-AAAA Tournament.. If
MP beats Spalding, the
Bulldogs will likely face top-
seeded Upson-Lee at. 8:30
p.m. on Friday at. home.
If MP loses to Spalding,
the Bulldogs will play in a
consolation game for state
tourney seeding at. 5:30
p.m. on Friday at. home.
Nix said he expects
Holden, who leads MP in
all major statistical catego
ries including averaging
over 28 points per game,
to be back in the starting
lineup for the region tour
nament..
“The thing about, it. is he’s
gonna work hard to get.
back,” Nix said of Holden.
“And I’ve got. a feeling that,
because of his heart, and
his guts that, he’s gonna
be in the lineup. I’m real
pleased about, going to the
state playoffs four straight
years. That’s real big. And
so I’m proud of that.. And
I’m pleased about, how we
just, continue to win games,
22 wins.”
Meanwhile, the Monroe
County Middle School boys
basketball team finished
up a winless 0-12 cam
paign on Tuesday, Jan. 30
with a 45-22 road loss at.
Lamar County Middle. The
Bulldogs were also defeated
in a road contest on Jan. 29
at. Fort. Valley Middle by a
score of 45-16.
EERVICi
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