By Chris Sokoloski

csokoloski@gtowntimes.com

Andrews High's boys basketball team had to withstand furious rallies by Lake City in the last two minutes of both halves of last week before pulling out a 78-75 come-from-behind victory.

"We knew it was going to tough going in," coach Kevin Branham said. "It feels good to get a region win."

The Yellow Jackets led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and were flirting with a double-digit lead in the second quarter when the Panthers made a run and cut the lead to 34-31 with two minutes left.

After the teams traded baskets, Lake City hit a shot as time expired that made the score 39-37 at the half.

The Panthers got as close one point down with five minutes left in the third quarter, but a three-pointer by Harold Langley extended the Yellow Jackets' lead again.

Lake City dominated the offensive boards in the fourth quarter, using second and third shots to pull to within 61-59 with six minutes left.

After tying the score at 69-69 with two-and-a-half minutes left, Lake City took its first lead of the game at 71-69 and then immediately extended it to 73-69 after an Andrews' turnover.

A basket by Monte McCrea cut the lead to 73-71. McCrea was fouled on the shot and missed the free throw, but Lake City turned the ball over and Travis Collins tied the game at 73-73 with 90 seconds left.

Thirty seconds later Lake City regained the lead at 75-73, but another Langley three-pointer put Andrews up for good.

Andrews shot a sizzling 71 percent from the floor, hitting 28 of 36 two-pointers and four of nine three-pointers. The Yellow Jackets were also 10 of 17 from the free throw line.

Langley led Andrews with 30 points and eight rebounds. Collins had 18 points and five rebounds; Rodquel Davis had 14 points and four rebounds; McCrea had nine points and six rebounds; Neal Pope had four points and four rebounds; and Ervin Heard had six assists and four steals.

After suffering through a 10-game losing streak, during which Branham never had a full squad available for games, the Yellow Jackets have won two in a row.

"To have our entire team back, the kids are happy and there's more of a cohesiveness," Branham said. "During that stretch of 10 games when we were missing four or five kids we were asking kids to play outside their comfort zones."

Around the county

Carvers Bay lost 51-47 to Creek Bridge last week.

The Bears led 15-11 after the first quarter but the Warriors dominated the second to take a 24-19 lead at halftime. The Bears rallied to take a 36-35 at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors outscored the Bears 16-11 in the fourth for the victory.

"We played a great first quarter and then rushed our game and got out of synch," Carvers Bay coach Jeff Mezzatesta said. "The second quarter we struggled to find our offense. I thought we had it back in the third quarter when we took the lead back, but we still struggled with mistakes and turnovers in the fourth."

Da'Shawn Aiken led Carvers Bay with 13 points. Rayshod Pittman had eight points, Teondre Bromell and Rayshad Dorsey had seven each and Walter Linnen had five.

"I told the boys that even with the loss we are still in a tie for the region title and we have to grow tighter as a team and learn how to handle success and learn from our failures," Mezzatesta said.

After a 9-3 start to the season, Georgetown has dropped five straight region games.

The Bulldogs lost 67-47 to Myrtle Beach last week.

"Everybody has one of those games and this was our game for the year like that," coach Alvin Walker said. "We didn't show up."

The Seahawks jumped out to a 16-10 lead after the first quarter and held the Bulldogs to six points in the second quarter to extend the lead to 30-16 at the half.

Georgetown was only outscored by six points in the second half but couldn't close the gap.

"We played hard, but we played slow," Walker said. "The players were playing in slow motion."

Tevin Johnson led the Bulldogs with 17 points and 10 assists. Charlie McGirt had nine points and six rebounds; Aiswan Nelson had six points and 10 rebounds; Dae Quan Gibson had five points; and Justin Wright had four points.

"These guys are not quitters," Walker said. "We're looking to fight in every game we play."

Waccamaw suffered another close region loss last week, a 55-53 defeat at the hands of Dillon.

"We didn't play with the composure needed to execute all our plays in the last two minutes of the game," Warriors coach Mike Quinn said.

A.J. Grant led Waccamaw with 14 points. Dejan Frasier and Noah Gulley had 10 points each, Blake Dwyer returned from an injury to score nine, and Taylor King had four.