Warner Robins survives region duel with New Hampstead

WARNER ROBINS — Matchups don’t get much more even than Friday night’s between Warner Robins (8-10, 3-1 Region 1-4A) and New Hampstead (6-13, 1-3 Region).

Lead guards dueled in the first quarter, turnovers ran rampant and charges were given out like candy in a fast-paced game that saw bodies hit the floor constantly.

It wasn’t pretty, but head coach Jamaal Garman will take the 52-46 win, the Demons’ fourth in a row.

“This is big for us in the region, it moves us a little bit closer [to the top],” Garman said. “That helps us out mentally [too], because we had to win ugly today. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but I’ll take the win either way. I’m just happy at the effort that they had, especially at the end of the game.”

Warner Robins’ Gavyn Williams and the Phoenix’ Tristan Hines kept their respective teams afloat out of the gate as the slog in the interior began.

Williams scored eight points, most of which came from a pair of triples, and Hines contributed six.

Hines’ quickness, tight handles and ability to hit shots off the dribble made him directly responsible for nearly half of New Hampstead’s 13 first-quarter points, enough for a two-point lead over the Demons entering the second.

Neither team gained much separation from the other as they traded leads and ended up with a halftime tie of 25.

There weren’t many things Warner Robins could say they did well on Friday, but rebounding was one of them. It’s what kept them an inch ahead for most of the game, and it’s something Garman stresses to his squad regularly.

“I was proud of them today rebounding. I told them all five guys got to go to the boards on the defensive end. We’ve got to secure that rebound,” Garman said. “Rebounding is important man. You can’t score without the ball, so you got to go get the ball. You got to rebound and be strong with it.”

The Demons didn’t create separation until the fourth quarter, when they took the biggest lead of the game for either team at 44-36 with 4:13 to play.

The Phoenix came screaming back in the final three minutes, scoring on three straight possessions to make it a two-point game with 47 seconds to play.

Free throws have been an issue for Warner Robins this year, but Prince Ragin drained both to make it a two possession game. He also secured a steal and got the ball up to Williams for the game-sealing layup. Tyler Harris threw down a dunk (barely) after the buzzer to punctuate the win.

UP NEXT

Warner Robins will host Ware County as a part of their six-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m.

New Hampstead will stick around Houston County to play Perry on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m.