Baldwin captures region hoops wins at home

Published 8:08 pm Friday, December 20, 2024

Once they took control of the game in the second half, it was another victorious night on the James A. Lunsford court for the Baldwin High Braves in Region 4-AAA. Richmond Academy from Augusta scored the first nine points Tuesday, but then Baldwin’s 7-0 run to end the quarter, 9-0 run in the second eight-minute period and 10-0 spurt in the third paved the way to a 58-51 win.

The victory came four days after a 45-42 loss for No. 8 Baldwin in region play at No. 2 Cross Creek in Augusta. It was a game where head coach Ben Smith said the low score was due to the pace the Razorbacks try to play and Baldwin’s struggles to shoot the basketball. The coach added that ultimately it was a big third quarter for Cross Creek with a lot of offensive rebounding that made the difference.

And then on Tuesday, it was another low octane pace in terms of point production. The Richmond Academy Musketeers took the early 9-0 lead, and then Baldwin got on the board with center Bouie Turner’s jumper in the lane assisted by Karez Demory. Richmond Academy – confident in its offensive execution – answered with the old-fashioned three-point play, and with Baldwin having more turnovers than shot attempts the visitors were up as much as 12.

But the 7-0 run for the Braves began with Deven Nelson’s assist to forward Bryan Goddard out of a timeout. Employing a press on defense, Goddard got a steal and two more points. Coming off the bench, Jaylen “Boom” King stole a rebound on Baldwin’s offensive end and put the ball back in at the buzzer.

The Braves trailed 14-9 to start the second quarter and extended the scoring run to 10 straight with the points coming from substitute guard Zion Grant. Though he also grabbed an offensive board, Grant is more about long-range shooting and knocked in his team’s first 3-pointer. Demory followed with his own 3-ball for Baldwin’s first lead at 18-16.

With less than three minutes before halftime, the Musketeers reclaimed the lead on their offensive glass, 23-21. Baldwin was letting a lot of opportunities on offense slip away, but had the last possession with 13 seconds on the clock. Jared Mundie, another one of Smith’s bench players, did just like King by beating the buzzer on a put-back sending the game into the half 23-23.

Baldwin’s 10-0 run in the third quarter came with the score still tied and began with Nelson’s 3-pointer. Defensive plays were key with Trakeon Downing’s steal in the lane, Goddard’s steal of an inbound pass and a 10-second violation on Richmond Academy. King went end-to-end to cash in a defensive rebound, and Baldwin was up 34-24.

The Musketeers remained in contention, though, with three consecutive 3-pointers made. With the lead down to one, Nelson scored from behind the arc. At the shot clock buzzer, Downing connected from pro-range, and the third quarter ended with the Braves up 42-36.

Clutch baskets in the fourth quarter were from Grant’s inbound assist to Downing at 4:30 for a 10-point bulge 51-41 and Nelson’s penetration score for Baldwin’s biggest lead of 12, 55-43. That was enough to counter two late 3-pointers from Richmond Academy.

The Braves improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Region 4-AAA.

Bravettes blowout

Suri Clark showed she can keep Baldwin High’s domination on the inside in girls basketball going beyond the days of Janaye Walker.

Walker and fellow senior Kassidy Neal worked in tandem brilliantly with Clark Tuesday in leading the Bravettes to a 4-0 record in Region 4-AAA to end the 2024 portion of the new season. Much like the other three region victims so far, Richmond Academy of Augusta fell 69-26 giving the Baldwin girls a 7-3 mark overall.

Clark was 12-for-13 from the floor in scoring 24 points. Neal had 20 on 10-for-13 shooting, and Walker canned 14. Walker notched another double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds, and she helped her teammates in those big numbers with seven assists.

Clark had a hand in Baldwin’s first six points with a high-low assist to Neal and taking a pass against the Richmond Academy press from Walker. Both Clark and Neal had four early points with Neal scoring from a steal by freshman guard Amari Baker.

Baker herself scored from an offensive rebound in the first quarter as did Clark. In all it was eight points for Clark taking another assist from Neal.

Baldwin led 16-9 after one quarter with nary a point coming from Walker, but she took care of that on Baldwin’s first possession of the second period. Both Neal and Clark added four more points each with assists going to Walker and guard Zuri Grant. An additional four from Clark capped off a 15-0 Baldwin run in four minutes of the quarter.

Triana Lawrence, off the Bravette bench, made the only 3-pointer of the first half, which ended at 42-15.

The home team poured on the assisted baskets in the second half. Walker was the target of feeds by Clark and Neal, Neal’s being an inbound lob Walker outreached everyone to take under her basket. Walker also had two assists to Clark and Neal.

“Trying to get my guards right,” said head coach Kizzi Walker about her 10-game assessment of a team looking to repeat a state championship season. “As games progress, they get better. Playing against some good competition made them mature.”

As for Clark’s performance, coach Walker said she saw what her 6-1 sophomore could do over the summer.

“I just had to get her to get her confidence level up,” she said. “She’s part of the big 3. I know she can do it. Just need to get her to buy into (the fact) that she’s one of the top players on the team. They showed a lot of growth as a team, making sure everybody was able to participate in the game. I enjoyed watching them play (Tuesday).”

Kizzi Walker said Baker always hustles and plays hard on defense in games and practice. Baker’s offense is also picking up but needs a lot of work, she said.

“She’s never going to give up, very relentless,” said Walker.

It was also learned that the host for the Region 4-AAA tournament will be the team that finishes in first place on the girls side for the regular season. The coach is hoping nobody stands in the way of that being Baldwin High.

“We’re looking strong in our region, so hopefully we’ll be hosting,” she said.