MILLEDGEVILLE —
Baldwin High’s basketball teams faced resilient competition Tuesday, as both the men and women’s teams traveled to Forsyth to take on the Bulldogs of Mary Persons.
Head coach Rechard Larkin’s men rose to the challenge, winning handily over the Bulldogs 55-35 on the road for the team’s fourth region win this season.
“I think, even with a win like that, as coaches we’re coaching for that perfect game,” Larkin said. “I’ve got to give credit to our guys for playing well defensively and keeping them under our goal of 50 points a game. We’re certainly pleased to go on the road inside the region 2-AAAA and get a win, because that’s always tough.”
Marquise Williams led the defensive charge with 21 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Jatavius Williams grabbed 12 rebounds of his own. Adding to the defensive efforts was Juwon Freeman with three steals.
Marquise added 14 points on the offensive end and Freeman dropped 10 points in the contest.
“We’re just very pleased with where we are at this juncture in our season,” Larkin said.
The Braves will have the opportunity to slide into the number one spot in the region with a win on Friday against Westside of Macon.
“We have the opportunity on Friday night to get back to that top spot,” Larkin said. “At this time, Westside is the best team in our region. It’s going to be a tall task, but we’re preparing mentally to take on that task.”
Matching the defending region champions of Mary Persons stride-for-stride during the first three and a half quarters, the Bravettes took their third loss in a row falling 51-65 to the Lady Bulldogs.
“You have to give Mary persons a lot of credit. They have a lot of experience, and they’ve got a lot of stops on defense when they needed and at the same time they made the shots on the offensive end when they needed it,” Randall Owens, women’s head coach, said. “Again, the effort was there, but Mary Persons is just a little bit better than us right now. Although we are on a three-game losing streak, our girls remain positive and up beat; because, in the grand scheme of things, this is only our second region loss.”
Continuing to carry BHS offensively, Jayla Waller posted 17 points in the contest, followed by teammates Terrian Williams and Shemirika Manson with nine points each of their own.
“Jayla Waller, Terrian Williams, and Shemirika were challenged by the coaching staff this week,” Owens said. “They stepped up to the challenge and provided the leadership against Mary Persons.”
In the Bravettes’ last three contests the youth has begun to show in the team’s line up, but Owens is not worried, as he believes BHS has a bright future in women’s basketball.
“This year, we knew there would be some growing pains just because of our youth,” he said. “Like I’ve told many people, if you’re going to beat the Baldwin Bravettes basketball team, this is the year to do it; because we will be better in the future and we will close the gap on some of the teams in the region.”
The BHS basketball teams will be back in action on Friday at home against Westside of Macon, with the Bravettes starting at 6 p.m. and the Braves at 7:30 p.m.
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