GCSU history made in nailbiter

Published 2:49 pm Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Athletes would prefer not to make history in a losing effort, and thankfully for Jada Warren of the Georgia College & State University women’s basketball team that was not the case Saturday at The Centennial Center. But it was not a comfortable finish.

As Warren became the all-time leading rebounder ever for the Lady Bobcats – and became the second player ever with 1,000 career boards – her GCSU team saw a lead of 22 late in the first half slip all the way down to one late in the second. Going 6-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter helped greatly in holding off the Flagler College Lady Saints 67-65, a win that evened the Lady Bobcat Peach Belt record in 2024-25 at 6-6.

It was the kind of week for Georgia College’s women that shows how nothing is certain in basketball. The Lady Bobcats went from losing to a then-winless USC-Aiken team 64-62 at home one week ago to a major upset of Peach Belt leading North Georgia 51-43 in Dahlonega. They return home Saturday and win despite getting just three points from second-leading scorer Hannah Cail on 1-for-11 shooting.

Miracle Parker led GCSU with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. Leading scorer Ashyia Willis went 3-for-11 to get 11 points, and led the team in assists with five. Evie DePetro was particularly hot shooting the basketball in the first half off the bench to get 11.

And then there were the 18 rebounds from the NCAA Division II leader in the category. Warren came into the game needing four for 1,000 as a Lady Bobcat and 10 to break the school record. She got to 1,000 in the first quarter, then turned over post duties for a spell to Camryn James, who for the game had eight points and five boards.

Flagler would give the Lady Bobcats trouble with the full-court press, but DePetro helped beat it after Rose Bone barely got the ball over the 10-second line (midcourt). DePetro assisted the basket by James, then scored two capping an 8-0 run.

But Flagler closed the gap from 12-4 to 12-9 using a three-point play off a press turnover. James ended that run with a put-back basket. Closing out the quarter strong for GCSU was another eight-point scorer in the game, guard Deshona Gaither. She got past the Flagler press for a lay-up then cashed in Willis’ steal and assist to make it 18-11.

The Lady Bobcats carried over a scoring run that reached 16 in a row into the second period. It was about the guards getting the ball to the post players as Gaither’s baseline dribbling led to an assist to James. Willis found Parker for a 3-pointer and Chandler Davis off the bench also found James open.

DePetro got the basketball back after a steal and sunk a 3 for 30-11 GCSU. Flagler didn’t score in the quarter until the 6:10 mark, but then Davis also used a steal to get 2 more. The lead grew to 20, 39-19, on Parker’s 3-pointer and Warren’s put-back that gave her 400 career points.

At halftime, GCSU was up 46-27. Warren set the new rebounding mark early in the third quarter, and both she and Parker stole the ball. With 3:45 to go, Davis scored using a screen by Bone, but down 52-37 that’s when momentum shifted to Flagler. The Lady Saints were 5-for-8 shooting 3-pointers in the period, the final 3 coming in the final minute after a traveling violation.

GCSU only had one basket in that last 3:45, so the fourth period began at 54-47. While it was 3-pointers for Flagler in the third, the fourth was about penetration. Cail had been silent all game but made her only 3 at 6:20, but three trips inside the lane got the visitors within two, 58-56.

It was 62-61 with 2:09 left, and GCSU’s remaining five points came from the foul line. The Lady Bobcats weren’t able to make a basket even with two re-sets of the shot clock in one possession, but, up by three, they saw Flagler miss a 3-ball rebounded by … Warren at the 48-second mark.

Greensboro’s Destiny McClendon led the Lady Saints with 19 points.

DAHLONEGA – Willis led Georgia College & State University with 15 points as the Bobcats stunned No. 5 University of North Georgia 51-43 Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball game Feb. 5 at Lynn Cottrell Arena.

The Bobcats jumped ahead early to a seven-point lead as Gaither and Nylah Nuri would put down three pointers. DePetro would add to the GCSU lead moments later, with three-point shots on back-to-back trips as the Bobcats opened up a 19-7 lead with 2:49 left in the opening stanza.
That lead would quickly disappear in the first few minutes of the second half, as a 12-2 run, capped off my an Ansley Hall three-pointer for the lead, would put GCSU in its first deficit since the first minute of the game at 23-21. North Georgia took a 29-21 lead into the locker room as the Bobcats went scoreless the final 7:58 of the quarter.

The Bobcats would chip into the Nighthawk lead throughout the third quarter, and a 9-2 run to end the quarter, formed by back-to-back layups from Willis and finished off by a layup by Nuri would give the Bobcats a 38-37 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Neither team would score in the fourth quarter until almost halfway through, with UNG taking the lead back at 40-38; however,  Gaither gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 42-40 with 3:06 on a layup.
The Nighthawks got as close as a point at 42-41 on their ensuing possession, but Willis quashed any UNG comeback when she sank a three-pointer on GCSU’s next possession to open a 45-41 lead.

Gaither, DePetro, and Davis added seven apiece for the Bobcats, while Warren grabbed 14 rebounds to pull her career total to 996.

SAINTS HOLD OFF ’CATS

Zyair Greene scored a game-high 24 points Saturday … all in the second half for the Georgia College & State University men’s basketball squad. However, it was the Bobcats playing catch-up for most of the Peach Belt Conference matchup with Flagler College. The Saints from St. Augustine, Florida, completed a regular-season sweep of GCSU 79-76 with 21-of-28 foul shooting in the second half and four of the eight players used in the game scoring in double figures.

The Bobcats were going for three wins in a row and were coming off a big 77-59 win at North Georgia on Feb. 5. Instead, the club dropped to 3-9 in the Peach Belt, 8-14 overall.

Greene, taking the floor Saturday with an 18.9 scoring average in 20 games, was 0-for-4 shooting the basketball in the first half. When it was over, he made 6-of-12 shots from the floor in the second half, but only one was a 3-pointer as he went 1-for-5 behind the arc. Greene went 11-for-13 from the line and grabbed six rebounds.

Center Dallas Clayton recorded a double-double with an active game on the offensive end. He scored 14 points, had 16 rebounds and even led the team in assists with three.

Aidan Kudlas scored 12 Bobcat points but was 0-for-5 in 3-pointers. The Bobcats as a whole shot 19% (4-for-21) in 3s.

Flagler’s biggest lead in the first half was eight points, 18-10. Among GCSU’s offensive production in this stretch was Conyer Smith scoring just his second basket on the season. Flagler would score six in a row for the big margin, then along came Bobcat freshman guard Khalil Green from Macon. He got all five of his points Saturday consecutively.

Clayton scored 12 of his 14 in the first half. He scored six in a row for his side with two offensive rebounds. His steal led to him making it to the foul line, and he put the Bobcats ahead temporarily 27-25. The seven-footer from New Zealand also broke a tie throwing an assist to James Nichols III.

Mason Etter’s only 3-pointer and the third hook shot converted by Clayton gave GCSU its biggest advantage at 32-27. But as the clock wound down, Kudlas broke a 34-34 tie. With six seconds to go, the Saints’ leading scorer on the day, Trevur Smalls (19 points off the bench) retied things at 36-36 for halftime.

Greene immediately got into the scoring column in the second half, and he and Clayton put the Bobcats ahead for what would be the last time in the game. It was 42-39 when the Saints went on a winning 6-0 run. Greene and Kudlas helped GCSU stay within one point, but Flagler went on another 6-0 spurt. Smalls ran the floor after a blocked shot, and at 7:40 to play the visitors were up by nine, 61-52.

The Bobcats made a defensive switch down 67-57. Flagler didn’t get a field goal against the 2-3 zone in five straight possessions, but GCSU could not take advantage until Greene scored at 1:22. He made it 69-66, but 22 seconds later Flagler’s Jax Bouknight’s 3 gave him 16 points.

Greene and Kudlas were knocking down baskets amid the Saint foul shooting, then Greene was fouled on a long shot at 31.3 seconds. All three foul attempts went through and, the margin at two (75-73), Oscar Lynch made a huge steal, a takeaway quickly negated with the Bobcats stepping out of bounds.

Still, Ian Davis, another double-figures scorer silent in the game, made his first 3-pointer at 12.5 seconds as Greene was double-teamed. Flagler made two free throws sandwiched around that hoop to claim victory.

DAHLONEGA – Green scooped up a career-high 22 points as Georgia College & State University defeated the University of North Georgia 77-59 in a Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball game Feb. 5 at Lynn Cottrell Arena.

North Georgia took a 2-0 lead to start the game, but that would be the only lead the Nighthawks would enjoy during the contest.
The Bobcats jumped out in front early against the Nighthawks, as  Green would make consecutive three-pointers to take an 8-2 lead. GCSU maintained a five-point lead in the early going, and it quickly extended to a nine-point lead as Nichols III laid down his first points to open up a 16-7 lead with 14:23 remaining. Greene connected on a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first half to put the Bobcats up 11 points (33-22) at the half.
Green would start the second half the same way as the first, with a bucket from the three-point line. Tony Carpio would then trade baskets with Green, giving the Bobcats a 16-point lead, which would climb to a 19-point lead (45-26) after Nichols dropped in another three-pointer with 16:55 to go. GCSU took its largest lead at 22 points when Green nailed a three-pointer with 9:10 remaining.

Green’s 22 points, formed from a 4-of-5 day from behind the three-point line, led the Bobcats and would be followed by Greene (17), Nichols (14), and Carpio (11). Nichols and Etter led the team in rebounds with seven, and Green would clock in four assists.