Area roundup: Valley Point boys, Kodiaks win county crowns

Basketball purists had to love the balance displayed by Valley Point’s eighth grade boys basketball team on their way to a championship victory Thursday night.

Four players scored in double figures as the Green Waves beat host New Hope, 58-42, for the Whitfield County Middle School Athletic League crown.

In an earlier title clash in the same gym, New Hope’s seventh grade boys gained a pulsating 28-27 win against Eastbrook.

“We have had different people to step up all year, and tonight everybody stepped up,” said coach Ron Wheeler, whose Green Waves showed balance rare for 24-minute middle school games. “It was probably our best balanced game. They’re all so coachable. They’re a great group of kids.”

Alex Clowers led the Green Waves with 16 points. His quality supporting cast included Damian Manning and Blake Foster, who each had 13 points, and Rhett Harper, who added 12.

Harper, a versatile guard, dished out eight assists — with most of them leading to fast break points — and contributed seven rebounds and three steals. Manning was dominant at post, grabbing 11 rebounds, and he also had three assists and several blocked shots.

Valley Point, a No. 1 seed for the tournament, finished with a 12-game winning streak.

“We lost our first two games (against Westside and Gladden) without Blake Foster, who had a stress fracture in his arm from pitching in baseball,” Wheeler said. “After he came back, we didn’t lose again.”

This marked Wheeler’s first year of coaching boys basketball since guiding Northwest Whitfield High School’s junior varsity in 1984. He is best known on the hardwood for his tremendous Northwest girls’ squads, one of which advanced to the state championship game.

“I inherited a great group of boys here at Valley Point,” Wheeler said. “Over the past two years, they have swept league championships for both the eighth and seventh grade basketball and football.”

Valley Point led 11-8 after one quarter and never relinquished the reins. The Green Waves were ahead 24-16 at halftime and 40-31 entering the fourth quarter.

Caleb Storey’s dozen points, all from 3-pointers, sparked New Hope. Nick Bramblett provided double-digit scoring help with 10 points.

Coach Burt Ridley’s Kodiaks finished 10-6, with three of those setbacks coming to the Green Waves.

In New Hope’s seventh grade victory, Landon Pickel canned the decisive basket, a 12-footer from the left baseline with 15 seconds remaining.

“We finally had intensive defense in the fourth quarter which helped us to overcome a (24-18) deficit,” said Ridley, who also served as the seventh grade head coach. “These guys are still learning how to win close games. Eastbrook improved so much from our earlier two games against them.”

Connor Beard had 12 points for New Hope (14-2), the tourney’s No. 1 seed. Gustavo Diaz had a game-high 16 points for the Mustangs (7-5) and Chaz Payne nine.

Varsity basketball

• Dalton girls 55, Sprayberry 43: Despite the absence of standout senior forward Markisha Washington for the opening half, the Lady Catamounts got off to a quick start and managed their lead well on the way to the region road win.

Amanda Rector scored a game-high 23 points, while Shelby Whitfield and April Besley each added 11 for Dalton (18-5, 9-3 in Region 7-4A), with Besley also shining on the defensive end.

“She did a great job on their best player (guard Nadia Ogene),” Lady Cats coach Jeff McKinney said. “She held her under 10 points, which caused them to look for different ways to score and they had trouble at times.”

Dalton, which was ahead 26-17 at halftime, pushed its lead to as many as 16 points and didn’t let it dwindle below eight after the quick start, McKinney said. Washington sat out the first half because of illness, but came back to play the final two quarters.

Sprayberry, which was paced by Marchelle Lunsford’s 15-point effort, took 38 free throws, McKinney said.

“They had opportunities from the line,” McKinney said.

• Sprayberry boys 69, Dalton 58: Watts Dantzler had 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead Dalton, but the Cats’ five-game winning streak in region play was shut down, along with their best hopes to make a run at a No. 2 seed for the upcoming Region 7-4A tournament.

“It’s a long shot now,” Cats coach Mike Duffie said. “We can win out, but a lot of things would have to happen for us to sneak in at No. 2. It’s possible, just not a strong likelihood.”

The Cats (16-4, 8-4) struggled with shooting from the field and foul line — they were 9-for-18 on free throws — as well as transition defense, and never found enough energy in one stretch to make a run that could have turned into a comeback, Duffie said.

“In this region, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game on the road and we didn’t and it cost us,” he said.

Shaquon Moore had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Kelly Phillips matched Sprayberry’s Aaron Lunsford 16-point effort. Tre Beck added 12 points and Tevin Collins five assists for Dalton.

“We’ve got to get ready for another tough road game at Rome on Saturday,” Duffie said. “We’ve still got a lot to play for. We’ve just got to play.”

• Northwest Whitfield’s tipoff times for tonight’s Region 7-4A games at Osborne have been moved up by an hour.

The junior varsity boys and girls will both play at 4:30 p.m. — Osborne has two gyms on campus — while the varsity girls are set to start at 6 p.m., with the varsity boys to follow.

9th basketball

• North Murray girls 54, LFO 40: Meagan Spivey had 14 points and seven rebounds as the Lady Mountaineers (3-2) finished their season with the victory against Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.

Hannah Hensley and Andrea Dunn added 10 and nine points, respectively, for North Murray, while Lindsey Ray had seven of the team’s 18 assists on a night the Lady Mountaineers were tagged with only six turnovers.

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