Schools

Campbell Girls Cruise in Opening Round of State

Lady Spartans have won 16 of their last 18 games. Campbell boys will look to join them in the second round when they play at Stephenson High tonight.

The girls got the job done Friday night in their first round game of the Georgia High School Association State Basketball Tournament. The boys will look to do the same tonight at Stephenson High School.

Friday night at Wills Gym, all five Lady Spartan starters scored in double figures as Campbell pulled away in the second half for a 75-50 win over Newton High School. It marked the 16th win in the last 18 games for Campbell.

“I’m very happy with our second half play,’’ said Campbell coach Randy McClure. “Our first half play looked a little tentative and we didn’t quite execute as we’re supposed to. But I’m proud of the way the girls responded in the second half.’’

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Despite McClure’s slight displeasure in his team’s performance through the first two quarters, the Lady Spartans still led 28-21 at the break. The Lady Rams, 16-12, hung around for a little while in the third quarter, but the Lady Spartans were too tough on the boards and led by 10 going into the final quarter.

From there, Campbell stepped on the gas as they pulled away for the win to improve to 23-6 on the year. Air Force Academy signee Erica Norwood led all scorers with 16 points and was followed by George Washington signee Chakecia Miller with 13. Also scoring in double figures were Baylee Hawkins (13), Angel Foster (12) and Jalessa Phillips (11).

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McClure also praised the aggressive play of his post players, as Phillips, Foster and D’Asia Cain pulled down 10, nine and eight rebounds respectively.

Campbell, the top seed from Region 4-AAAAA, will remain at home for its next game and will entertain the winner of tonight’s game between Windsor Forest and Valdosta. Two more Region 4-AAAA teams, second seed Hillgrove and third seed McEachern, also score opening round double-digit wins Friday. Fourth-seeded North Cobb plays at Stephenson tonight.

It could be a Campbell hoops doubleheader at Wills Gym next week, but a couple of things must happen first, most notably the Spartans must win at Stephenson tonight.

Lowndes High must also win at Savannah High tonight for Campbell to play at home in the next round. But it’s safe to assume that coach James Gwyn and the Spartans, who were in the fans cheering on the girls Friday night, are giving their full attention to the Jaguars.

Campbell, 21-7, will travel to Stone Mountain tonight for a 7:30 p.m. rematch against Stephenson, which fell 70-58 at Wills Gym on Feb. 5. That concluded a five-game losing streak for the Jaguars, 15-13, who rebounded to win four straight before falling in the Region 2-AAAAA tournament championship game.

"That game kind of was a wash as they were missing their point guard and we were missing a key player (leading scorer Justin Seymour),'' said Gwyn.

Seymour leads the Spartans in scoring at 21 points a game. Roderick Perkins averages 19 points and 11 rebounds per contest while Matt Cotton is chipping in 18 points an outing.

The Spartans bolted out of the gates this season with 11 straight wins, then dropped four of six, before winning eight of their last 11 games. They fell to McEachern on the Indians' home court last week in the region tournament semifinals before bouncing back to beat Hillgrove in the consolation game.

"That was good to give us some confidence because you don't want to lose two straight going into state,'' said Gwyn, whose team won a regular season game last year at Stephenson. "We played a lot of tough, close region games this season, so hopefully that will have us prepared to go on the road Saturday.


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