Ocilla — As had happened several times previously, Wilcox High’s boys won big after its girls lost big in a Tuesday night basketball doubleheader.

When the Patriots gunned down Irwin’s Indians 72-52, it marked the ninth time in their 17 starts that they have prevailed by a double-digit spread. On the other hand, the Lady Patriot’s 57-12 defeat by the Squaws continued their trend of losing by 20 more points in all 11 of  their setbacks.

Both Wilcox teams are ticketed for double duty this weekend, visiting Charlton County on Friday before coming home on Saturday to face Telfair County.

Patriots 72, Indians 52

With Jonathan Howard swishing the cords for 10 points right off the bat, the Patriots bolted to a 22-12 first period lead they kept expanding as the game progressed.

By halftime, they had opened a 40-26 bulge and at the three-quarter mark they owned a 60-33 advantage. With Wilcox reserves on the floor for the last four minutes or so of the game, Irwin held a 19-12 final stanza edge that only made the final score slightly more respectable.

“We played well, starting with our 22-point first quarter that we followed up with another 18 in the second period and then 20 more in the third,” said coach George Kennedy’s whose Patriots now read 14-3 overall, 8-1 in Region 2-A play.

“We also had a pretty good night defensively as when you hold an opponent to no more than 14 points in a quarter as we did three times in this one, you’re doing all right.”

Howard finished with 19 points, Quinn Tisdol ended with 12 and A.J. Benjamin wound up with 10 for the winners. K.J. Billingsley bagged 11 for the Indians who came into the game hoping to avenge an earlier 88-38 loss to the Patriots.

Score by Quarters

Wilcox County 22-18-20-12 — 72

Irwin County 14-12-7-19 — 52

Scoring

  Wilcox County (72) — Telly Whitfield 2, Quinn Tisdol 12, Makail Grace 9, Anthony Sailor, Calvin Rawls 4, Michael Everson 4, Antwan Benjamin 5, A.J. Benjamin 10, Jonathan Howard 19, Johnny Dwight 7, Jay Brown.

   Team totals: field goals 32; free throws 5 of 14 (36.2%); fouls 9; 3-pointers — Tisdol 3; fouled out — none.

   Irwin County (52) — D.J. Peterson 10, Jarvis Carter 7, Jykaria Young 7, William Lewis 3, K.J. Billingsley 11, Mike Wilson 8, Adonnis Battle 2, Tre’ Spell 4.

   Team totals: field goals 22; free throws 4 of 10 (40%); fouls 10; 3-pointers — Peterman 2, Curtis 1, Lewis 1; fouled out — none.

Squaws 57, Lady Patriots 12

In again falling victim to the Squaws by exactly 45 points (Irwin won the initial encounter 72-27), the Lady Patriots were held scoreless in the second stanza and managed just two points the entire first half.

With reserves logging almost all of the playing time for the Squaws after intermission, Wilcox took some consolation from winning the third canto 5-4 and only losing the fourth by a 10-5 count.

“They came out in a half-court press that really took its toll on us as we had an awful lot of turnovers — both forced and unforced — that greatly reduced our number of shot attempts,” Lady Patriots coach Santita Coon bemoaned afterwards.

“They also controlled the boards and shot well. While they were doing things right in every area of play, though, we couldn’t get anything going in any of them.”

Dacia Graham pitched in 12 points and Anissa Collins canned 11 to top a list of nine players to break into the scoring column for the winners. Dasjia Daniels paced Wilcox with 5.

Score by Quarters

Wilcox County 2-0-5-5 — 12

Irwin County 20-23-4-10 — 57



Scoring

Wilcox County (12) — Shawnjira Grace, Dasjia Daniels 5, Kierra Love, Kadada Martin, Shantia Lawson 1, Jada Curry, Erica Jackson 4, Takayla Mahoganey, Chanterria Thompson, Miracle Jones 2.

Team totals: field goals 4; free throws 4 of 11 (36.4%); fouls 8; 3-pointers — none; fouled out — none.

Irwin County (57) — Shay Robinson 2, Antresa Simmons 7, Canedra Herring 6, Anissa Collins 11, Sayan Bryant 4, Dacia Graham 12, Sarah Carter 2, Jakesha Cobb 8, Payton Posey 5.

Team totals: field goals 25; free throws 5 of 9 (55.6%); fouls 3; 3-pointers — Collins 1, Posey 1; fouled out — none.