Douglas —
Talk about comebacks, Fullington Academy’s Trojans made a gigantic one Friday night and although it fell a little shy of resulting in a win it did leave coach Van Bailey grinning from ear to ear.
“That’s the wildest game I’ve ever coached,” Bailey said after watching his team raily from a whopping 30-point deficit midway the third period to eventually lose by just two, 71-69 to Citizens Christian’s Patriots.
That heart-stopper came after the Lady Trojans had beaten the Lady Trojans by an unreported score.
The Fullington teams will be back in action on Tuesday at 5:30 at Valwood of Valdosta and on Friday at home at 6:30 in a re-match against Citizens Christian.
After keeping the game close in the first two quarters that closed at 14-9 and 31-22 in favor of the home team, the visitors looked as if they’d get blown out when their deficit grew to 54-24 with four minutes left in the third canto.
Fullington’s unanswered 12-point run to end that period got it to within 18. When Mark McCleskey hit three treys and Levi McKinney canned 15 points in the fourth. the Trojans almost snatched victory from defeat.
“I can’t remember a team of mine ever having a 33-point quarter like we did there at the end,” Bailey said. “Had we done just a little better job from the free throw line (where they were 20 of 37) or cut down our turnovers just a little during the course of the game, we could actually have won.
“It was like we were sleep walking for 2 1/2 quarters when for the first time all year I didn’t see any hustle. When we finally woke up and ran our press and offense the way I wanted the last 1 1/2 quarters we looked like the best team I’ve ever coached.
“We never should have been down that many, but at the same time to come back the way we did should let us know there’s no deficit we can’t overcome.”
McKinney wound up tying the Patriots’ O.J. Simpson for game scoring honors as each had 25 points. McCleskey chipped in with another 15 for the Trojans.
Score by Quarters
Fullington Academy 9-13-14-33 — 69
Citizens Christian 14-17-23-17 — 71
Scoring
Fullington (69) — Levi McKinney 25, Paul Dossett 6, Gavin Reed, Jim Hartin 3, Braden Shealy 7, Mark McCleskey 15, Daniel Cape 4, David Roney 9.
Team totals: field goals 23; free throws 20 of 37 (54.5%); fouls 19; 3-pointers — McCleskey 3; fouled out — Shealy.
Citizens Christian (71) — Devin Paulk 8, Theorayn Lott 16, Colton Carver 1, Jake Reyes 2, O.J. Simpson 25, Zach Ray 2, Alex Willis 17.
Team totals: field goals 27; free throws 15 of 25 (60%); fouls 24; 3-pointers — Simpson 2; fouled out — Lott.
Score by Quarters
Fullington Academy
Citizens Christian
Scoring
Fullington
Team totals: field goals xx; free throws xx of xx (xx.x%); fouls xx; 3-pointers — xxxxxx; fouled out — xxxxx.
Citizens Christian
Team totals: field goals xx; free throws xx of xx (xx.x%); fouls xx; 3-pointers — xxxxxx; fouled out — xxxxx.
Local Sports
Trojans rally from huge deficit in loss to Citizens Christian
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Wildcats weather playoff scares from Crusaders
Heeding the “where there’s a will, there’s a way” adage, Crisp Academy’ Wildcats struggled mightily Friday en route to a GISA Class A baseball quarterfinals sweep of Robert Toombs’ Crusaders.
With its hard-earned wins of 8-5 and 14-11, coach John Penney’s now 14-5 squad advances to the Final Four for a fourth straight year. Its foe in a best-of-three road series expected to start on Friday is Region 1-A champion Bethlehem Christian (13-5-2). - Crisp-Marist pairing represents a Final Four contrast
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Fullington learns its Final Four opponent
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Dooly County High pays tribute to its athletes at all-sports banquet
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Crisp County net teams honored at recent fete
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Rec department tennis clinics set to begin this week
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Trojans set to return to action after bye week, first-round win over Curtis Baptist
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Crisp Academy sweeps Robert Toombs, earns trip to GISA Final Four
Crisp Academy's Wildcats have advanced to the GISA Class A Final Four for a fourth straight year and in doing so had to rally for a second-game win over Robert Toombs' Crusaders here Friday.
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Wildcats set to continue their quest for fourth straight state finals berth
Now just two wins away from making the GISA Class A state championship finals for a fourth straight year, Crisp Academy will be gunning this weekend for one of the victories needed to get there.
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