Girls Earn Tournament Berth

Jeff Davis High’s girls basketball team took fourth place in last week’s Region 2-AA tournament in Vidalia to earn a berth in the 2019 state tournament. The Lady Jackets, 12-17, meet Region 1-AA champion Dodge County, 24-2, Friday in Eastman.
The JD boys season came to an end as they were eliminated by Metter in Wednesday night’s quarterfinals. The Jackets finished with a 16-10 record.
Both the JD girls and boys won their games on opening night last Tuesday.
The girls defeated Metter 39-32 behind the 14 point scoring of Keke McDuffie. Dee Wooten and Tia Cornish had six each, Jakhia Green 5, Fefe Green 4, and Jazmine Johnson and Morgan Yearty two each.
McDuffie hit two 3-pt. shots and Jakhia Green one.
Shay Johnson led Metter with 15.
The boys downed Bryan County 72-43 as Ja’Queze Kirby scored 22 points. Ti King and Dotson Bailey joined Kirby in double figures with 12 and 11 respectively. C.J. Parker had seven, James Johnson six, Jaylen Grady and T.J. McMillian four each, and Nyjai Gillis, Emanuel Rumph and Brandon Sturgis two each.
The Jackets hit six 3-pt. shots, three by Kirby and one each by Parker, King and Bailey.
Brandon Jemison topped Bryan with 15.
In Wednesday night’s quarterfinals, the Lady Jackets downed Vidalia 30-23 to earn a state tournament berth. The boys fell to Metter 61-44.
In the girls contest, Vidalia took an early lead but then Jeff Davis took over the contest, building their lead steadily to the final 30-23 score.
Fife Green and McDuffie had eight apiece, Yearty six, Jakhia Green five, Wooten two and Cornish one.
T. Roundtree topped Vidalia with eight.
In the boys contest, the Jackets jumped out to an early 11-pt. lead and held a 17-9 lead at the first stop. But from there on out, it was all Metter as the Tigers pulled away to the 61-44 victory.
Kirby Led the Jackets with 20 points and King was close behind with 18. Jeremiah Reed hit a 3-pt. shot, Parker had two points and Grady one.
Metter had three players in double digits, Keondre Williams 20, Tybias Young 12 and Immanuel Hackett 10.
In the semifinals Friday, The Jackets played once-beaten Bryan County tough and trailed only 43-35 after three quarters as the 10-point loss was a moral victory against the No. 1 seeded Lady Redskins.
Wooten led the JD scoring with 15 points, all in the second half. McDuffie had nine, Jakhia Green eight, Johnson six, Tania Hall four, Yearty three, and Fefe Green one.
S. Gunn topped Bryan with 20.
Saturday’s game for the 3rd and 4th seeds was a disaster for the Lady Jackets as Swainsboro jumped out to a 15-1 first quarter lead and carried a 27-6 bulge into the dressing room at halftime. They cruised in the second half to the 49-21 win.
Wooten again led Jeff Davis with seven points, Hall had five, Fefe Green three, Yearty two, and Jakhia Green, Johnson, Keke Green and Jasmine McNeely one each.
Dynesha Brown’s 21 points for Swainsboro matched the JD output. Aleah Hughes backed her up with 11.
The JD girls and Dodge’s girls played two mutual opponents — Wheeler County and Telfair County.
Jeff Davis High’s girls lost to Wheeler County by only three points, 35-32 on Nov. 19 in Hazlehurst while Dodge’s girls defeated Wheeler by 10 Dec. 12 in Eastman and lost the Jan. 29 rematch in Alamo, 70-66.
JD lost 59-37 to Telfair County while Dodge defeated Telfair 88-58 in Eastman and 87-60 in McRae.