It had been a long time since the Oconee County boys had something to celebrate. That ended Saturday when the Warriors beat Franklin County 59-47 in the first round of the Region 8-AAA tournament and earned a place in the state tournament for the first time in six years.
The Warriors (12-14) avenged two regular-season losses to Franklin. First-year coach Richard Wehunt’s team doubled last year’s win total, when the Warriors were 6-20. Not bad for a team whose eight of the first nine players are underclassmen.
Oconee County did it by racing off to a 17-1 and by keeping Franklin frustrated with its defense. Franklin hung around and even cut the score to 42-34 midway in the fourth quarter, only to have Oconee score the next six points and dash any hopes.
“We were putting a bunch of guys together that had never played together,” Wehunt said. “I knew we had talent and if we came together we’d have a shot. We started talking in December about how we could be the team to end that six-year drought. Now we’ve got to get a new goal.”
Oconee had four players in double figures: Chance Peden with 14, Patrick McArdle with 13, James Howell with 11 and Jalen Bonds with 10.
“When we play that way we’re a tough team,” Wehunt said. “A good offense is when all five players come down and you don’t know who’s going to shoot.”
Franklin County was led by Kalep Leverett with 13 points and Will Moore with 11.
North Oconee girls going back to state
It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, but style point don’t count when it comes to reaching the state basketball tournament. So the North Oconee girls will take their 40-33 win over Jackson County and move on to the second round of the Region 8-AAA playoffs and an automatic state playoffs pot.
“I’m proud for our seniors,” said North Oconee coach Donnie Byrom. “It’s been a building year. We’ve been trying to mold some veterans with some freshmen. And we’ve had a lot of injuries; we have had our whole team available all year.”
North Oconee has now reached the state tournament in four of Byrom’s four seasons.
It was a weird week for the Titans. Last weekend they beat rival Oconee County and No. 1 seed Franklin County. They came to school on Monday and had what Byrom called a “great practice.” But the weather moved in and cancelled school the rest of the week, meaning there could be no basketball practice. So the first time the Titans were able to get together was hours before the game that would decide whether they would be going to the state playoffs.
“We didn’t touch the ball the rest of the week,” Byrom said.
The rust showed. North Oconee led 18-11 at halftime but saw its offense go in the fridge. Jackson County then started knocking in 3-pointers, tied the game at 22-22 and even took at 24-22 lead. North Oconee finally took the lead for keeps with a 3-pointer that make it 29-26.
North Oconee got 10 points from Carmen Williams, who came up big in the fourth quarter while playing with four fouls, and Ginny Channell, who scored eight. Jackson County was led by Katie Phillips with 13 points.
Morgan County girls roll
An 18-1 start was all the Morgan County girls needed to get past Hart County, as the Bulldogs rolls to a 49-25 win and secure a place in the state playoffs.
The Bulldogs led 29-9 at halftime and were never tested. Tatyana Davis scored 13 points, 11 in the first half, and Alexis Brown finished with 12 for Morgan.
Hart County was led by Taliyah Mahoney, who made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points.
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