Thomas County Central’s game-winning three fails to connect as Northside wins 10th game and first in region play

WARNER ROBINS — Northside (10-3) held on to win their first region game despite Thomas County Central’s (8-5) 13-point comeback and last-second three-point attempt from Quincy Anderson that bounced off of the back rim as time expired.

The Eagles nearly fumbled a game they had almost complete control of early, but head coach Buck Harris will take his wins when he can get them.

“We gave up a three right at the end to Eric Love [III]. He’s the [head of the] snake. You got to cut the head off the snake,” Harris said on Love’s shot to bring it within one. “He shoots an airball the possession before, but then we leave him. We gotta sit in his lap [and] let somebody else take that shot.”

“But collectively to get a win, first region win at home, we’re headed in the right direction,” he continued. “We got a tough one tomorrow going over to HoCo, so hopefully these guys get some rest and I can come up with some kind of game plan to keep it competitive.”

The shot Harris referenced was Love’s wide open three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left on the clock. Kaylon Harris rebounded Love’s airball three the possession before and hit one of two free throws to make it a two possession game with 15.8 seconds to go.

But the three-point make cut the lead to 70-69. Kingston Allen only made one of his two free throws afterwards, so it was a two-point game and Thomas County Central’s ball. Quincy Anderson’s three from the top of the key hit the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded and Northside survived.

Nobody would’ve anticipated such a close finish after witnessing the first two quarters.

Vontrez Quainton nailed two first-quarter triples as the Eagles got a comfortable 21-14 lead at the end of the first that they (almost) doubled in the second.

The Yellow Jackets didn’t have an answer for Elijah Patmon especially when Anderson and Rodney Dunbar were off the floor.

Patmon muscled his way to a team-high 16 points. He posted up but also caught several passes leading him to the rim as Thomas County Central fronted him in hopes of denying the ball. The Eagles also found a lot of success driving to the basket.

But the Yellow Jackets picked up the pace in the second half and erased a 13-point deficit in part due to their three-quarter court press. They forced turnovers and got easy opportunities in transition as well as kept Northside away from the basket.

“They went to a 1-2-2 three-quarter court [press] and we act like we never seen it before,” Harris said. “We practice against it every day. But the difference is [Thomas County Central is] longer, they’re more athletic, and we got a little timid, a little shaky.”

Anderson was often in the front of that press and getting his hands on passes between two Eagles bringing the ball up.

The Yellow Jackets trapped on the sidelines and made everything else difficult, and not only did it take time off of the shot clock, it generated plenty of turnovers.

“I’m preaching, ‘Fake a pass, make a pass,’” Harris said. “Get them up in the air then let’s go by. But we [were] just going back and forth instead of looking up the sideline and looking opposite [where] we got guys open. We’ll watch film and we’ll get better from this. But hats off to TCC. They changed the tempo of the game and got back in it.”

Thomas County Central put on a 14-2 run in the last 4:20 of the third before taking a tie into the final period of play.

UP NEXT

Northside will take on their first county opponent in the region as they head downtown to Houston County on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 4 p.m.

Thomas County Central will head back to Thomasville to play Coffee on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 4:30 p.m.