Jonesboro wins Region 4-4A Crown

Cardinals win on a buzzer beater

Stockbridge H.S. – Stockbridge, GA

Stockbridge, GA - The Jonesboro Cardinals, the Region 4-AAAA regular season top seed added the region championship to their list of accomplishments this season by defeating Forest Park in a dramatic two point victory, 50-48 in Saturday’s Championship Game.

Forest Park came back from a 31-25 halftime deficit to take a 48-47 lead on a basket by Lamont Jackson with time running down in the game. With time ticking off the clock the Cardinals Jesse Gardner scored on a lay-up with just :05 seconds to play that gave Jonesboro the exciting win.

Gardner would finish the game with a team high 13 points; Antonio Gardner added 11. Forest Park got a game high 19 points from Brandon McCarden,

Both teams secured home games in the first round of the state playoffs.

In the third place game Stockbridge held off Alcovy 52-45; both of these teams will hit the road for their first round state playoff games.

Semi-Finals

Forest Park edged Stockbridge 44-42 behind a 21-point performance by Brandon McCarden. Sophomore Jordan Enadeghe recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. In the other semi-final game top seeded Jonesboro just avoided an upset at the hands of Alcovy, winning 39-37.

Region 4-AAAA Tournament

Stockbridge eliminates Griffin

Davis goes off for 30

Stockbridge H.S. – Stockbridge, GA

Stockbridge, GA –Chris Davis a up and coming 6-1 junior from Stockbridge had a little extra incentive going up against Griffin’s high flying 6-1 senior Shaq Barber; you see Barber was named the Regions “Most Outstanding Player” this season, something that Davis felt he should have gotten more consideration for with the season he’s had.

Davis was feeling it right out of the gate, his three-pointer got the Tigers off and rolling and they never looked back. Stockbridge put 13 points on the board before the Bears even thought about coming out of hibernation. Davis would finish the first quarter with 12 points as the Tigers opened up a 20-8 lead.

Griffin continued to struggle as the second quarter got underway; Barber who scored just 3 points in the first quarter went scoreless in the second. Davis would cool off a little but still managed to add 5 more points to his total.

A lot of Griffins scoring problems were due to the full court pressure defense that Stockbridge was deploying; they made it real difficult for the Bears to get into any offensive flow.

K. Burke and Dante Campbell from Stockbridge stepped up the their games as the Tigers took a 36-16 lead into the half.

Griffin has a long tradition of playing outstanding basketball and they weren’t about to go down without a fight. Barber was a totally different player in the third quarter; he scored the Bears first 6 points as they cut into the Tigers lead. Barber would finish the quarter with 10 points; teammate Pooh Appling would also contribute scoring 7 points.

Stockbridge would quickly regroup, Davis continued to perform well and Adonis Durden would start to go off making some sweet drives to the basket; but it was the inside play of Burke that dominated the later part of the quarter. Burke went 6 for 6 from the line to help Stockbridge increase their lead to 58-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The forth quarter would be the Bears highest output total of the game when they scored 22 points, 8 by Oscar Moore and 7 by Appling but the problem was they gave up 30 to Stockbridge who rolled to an easy twenty-six point win to advance to the semifinals of the region. The win also gave them a birth in the 1st round of the 2009 State Playoffs.

The Final Score:

Stockbridge 88 – Griffin 62

Scoring Recap

Stockbridge: Chris Davis would finish with a game high 30 points; K. Burke finished with 18 while Adonis Durden and Dante Campbell each added 12.

Griffin: Pooh Appling scored 17 to lead the Bears; Shaq Barber would finish with 15 and Oscar Moore added 12.

Region 4-AAAA Tournament

Forest Park eliminates OLA
Panthers win drama filled game

Stockbridge H.S. – Stockbridge, GA

Stockbridge, GA – The was a lot a drama between the officials and the OLA fans and parents towards the end of their hotly contested game with Forest Park that would eventually lead to the officials having the entire OLA student section and a parent removed from the game.

It was a tight game all the way through, Forest Park came out knocking down three-pointers; two by Lamont Jackson and one from Malikki Priester but it was the balance scoring of OLA, led by Will Parker, Jessie Jenkins and Tim Mason (they each scored 2 baskets) that gave the Mustangs a 15-13 lead.

After a solid first quarter Forest Park appeared to be lost in the second as the fell behind 24-18. Mason and Parker would continue to be the catalyst for OLA, each scoring a couple more baskets as the Mustangs took a 32-20 lead into the half.

The Panthers went back to playing “Three Ball” in the third quarter getting three-pointers from Jackson and Priester. Jackson played well all game long for Forest Park; he would also go 4 for 4 from the line. You can also contribute the Forest Park surge to Branden McCarden who really came to play in the second half; he scoried 7 points in the quarter.

OLA would manage to hold onto the lead even though they didn’t appear to be playing with the same swagger as they did in the first half.

The forth quarter really heated up as both teams started to feel the pressure. With 1:03 left to play OLA led 58-56. A basket by the Panthers Maurice Simpson tied the game at 58-58 with just 0:33 tics on the clock.

OLA would have two chances to win the game with less than 0:12 seconds to play but both times they missed the front-end of the one-n-one as the game went into overtime.

Forest Park quickly took a three-point lead, 61-58 in the OT. OLA would get two free-throws and a lay-up from Parker to tie the at 62-62. A few moments later the Mustangs could have taken the lead but Parker missed an easy lay-up and Forest Park scored to go up 64-62 with 18.8 seconds to go.

Forest Park would get big free-throws from Priester and McCarden to seal the deal as they completed a hard fought come from behind thriller against OLA. Forest Park moves on to the regions semi-finals and they also clam a birth in next weeks 2009 State Playoffs.

The Final Score:

Forest Park 68 – OLA 64

Scoring Recap

Forest Park: Branden McCarden scored a game high 23 points to pace the Panthers; Lamont Jackson scored 18 and Malikki Priester added 15. Jordan Enadeghe chipped in with 6.

OLA: Tim Mason scored 18 to lead the Mustangs. Will Parker added 15, Jessie Jenkins 12 and DJ Beard chipped in with 7.

Region 4-AAAA Tournament

Jonesboro eliminates Dutchtown
Cardinals soar in the 2nd half

Stockbridge H.S. – Stockbridge, GA

Stockbridge, GA – When the regional and state playoffs roll around anything can happen and that anything almost happened to the top seeded Jonesboro Cardinals in the region quarter-final playoff game against 8th seeded Dutchtown; but the Cardinals spread their wings in the second half and soared to victory.

Jonesboro took an early 6-3 lead as Antonio Gardner scored his second basket. Derrick Brock a 6-2 junior from Dutchtown is a good-looking player and he played some inspired basketball against the top seeded Cardinals; as did his teammates.

Stan Clark from Jonesboro would add a pair of baskets as the Cardinals opened a 12-7 lead. A big-time lay-up by Courtney Pickett and a pair of free-throws by Brock would cut the lead to 12-11 at the end of the first quarter.

A three-point play by Alphonzo Reid at the start of the second quarter would give Dutchtown a 15-14. They would increase the lead to 18-15 on a three-pointer by Rod Rufus.

The teams would trade baskets back and forth over the next few minutes. A couple of turnovers by the Bulldogs would open the door for the Cardinals to retake the lead, 23-21 on a jumper by Jessie Gardner.

Dutchtown would run off five late points to take a 26-23 lead into the half.

In the second half the Cardinals played a lot more aggressive at both ends of the floor and soared to a tough eleven point win and a birth in the region semi-finals. The win also gains Jonesboro a spot in the 1st round of the 2009 State Playoffs next week.

The Final Score

Jonesboro 56 – Dutchtown 45