Houston County’s 11 threes, late run put Veterans away as Bears tighten grip on region race

WARNER ROBINS — It wasn’t Houston County’s (15-5, 6-0 Region 2-5A) prettiest game, but they managed to put Veterans (9-13, 1-6 Region) away with 11 three-pointers and a late 16-4 run.

Thursday’s 79-57 final kept the Bears’ title favorite status intact. They’re in sole possession of first place as the only team in 2-5A without a region loss.

That makes Friday’s and Tuesday’s games against Lee County — the second place team and region champion in recent years — that much more important.

Head coach Buddy Bivins has called on his team to avoid complacency despite their success so far.

“[I] keep telling them, you got to stay locked in, don’t get complacent,” Bivins said. “Everything’s kind of going good right now, first six of this [region] span. We got a tough one coming up tomorrow at Lee [County]. Just try to keep them focused.”

“It’s kind of hard with a talented roster. They think they can out-talent everybody,” He continued. “It’s what we don’t want them to believe. [We] still got to do the hard work and let the work take care of it and let the talent take you over the top.”

Thursday wasn’t their best effort in that department. The offense, process-wise, wasn’t up to their standard.

HoCo had three different players hit multiple triples, and five made at least one. There’s no question they have dangerous shooters sprinkled throughout the roster.

But seven of their 11 total makes came in the first half, and those kept them afloat.

An off-the-dribble three in the first two minutes of the second quarter came on the heels of an attempt early in the shot clock, both misses. Those kind of quick threes are something Bivins isn’t a fan of, and though it “worked” to give the Bears a 39-27 halftime lead it wasn’t all on merit.

Veterans didn’t look their sharpest but HoCo benefited from some bad shooting luck. Some shots close to the rim rolled off, or a jumper bounced in and out. A few too many of those paired with several turnovers made it a tough night for the Warhawks’ offense.

“We were taking the quick three,” Bivins said. “[Veterans] went in zone [to] counter the mismatches that they probably were seeing on the floor. Them going zone, of course the quick three is always going to be there. Sometimes we hit them, but we could have been a little more patient.”

“When Braylin [Mills] and [Mahkel Stephens] got in there they started getting the ball inside…They had to start doubling inside, which [led to kick outs]. Those are the type of threes I want.”

Neither of the big men did much scoring, but their gravity inside (and Stephens’ two-handed dunk to get the crowd excited) helped get the regular offense going.

Malik Gillespie got downhill and drew three trips to the line in the third quarter to help nudge the Bears’ offense back in the right direction. Kaden Coney got a dish inside to Karon Plummer, too, as HoCo took a 19-point lead into the final period.

The Warhawks hung around for most of the game, but their first real push came in the opening minutes of the fourth.

They nailed a trio of their own triples, with Cordelle Broadnax’ cutting the deficit to 10 with 5:06 to play.

This could’ve been a part of another thrilling region comeback for Veterans, but the Bears finished the game on a 16-4 run to put away their sixth region win.

“We got in the passing lanes, got a couple of steals and quick baskets. Josh [Jackson] hit a three in that span. So just turning that defense into offense, which is something I always try to preach to them,” Bivins said. “We kind of got out of that when [Veterans] got back into the game…We got a little lethargic defensively, felt like they were just gonna lay down because we went up.”

This marked HoCo’s fifth straight win against the Warhawks, and the second year in a row they swept them in the regular season.

UP NEXT

The Bears’ biggest region game to date will be at Lee County on Friday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Veterans will take a few days before starting their three-game homestand to end the regular season on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. against Coffee.