Jackets win 5 straight
Jeff Davis High’s boys basketball team is on a roll as Coach Thomas McAboy’s charges have won 5 straight games after opening the season with 3 straight losses.
Last Tuesday in Hazlehurst, the Jackets downed Atkinson County 46-36, Friday in McRae they rolled to a 73-37 win over Telfair County and Saturday in Alamo they eased past Wheeler County 74-67.
Last night (Tuesday) the Jackets had a rematch with Pierce County, this Friday they have a rematch with Telfair County and Saturday they end the 2025 portion of their season against Appling County in Baxley.
The Yellow Jackets’ relentless, full-court pressure defense was the key to victory in their 5-game win streak.
Tuesday’s win over Atkinson County was the Jackets’ 2nd win over the Rebels who are 5-2 on the season.
Atkinson led 22-17 at intermission after a low-scoring 1st half but J.J. Benjamin hit a pair of 3-pt. shots in the 3rd quarter to lead the Jackets to a 34-28 lead entering the final stanza. Benjamin hit 4-of-4 free throws in the 4th quarter to hold the Rebels at bay.
Benjamin finished with 15 points and was joined in double digits by J.T. Bryant with 11. A.J. Sampson chipped in 8, Mark Durden 6, Kolby Jarrell 4 and Jaiden West 1.
H. Powell topped ATCO with 9 points.
Friday in McRae, the homestanding Trojans stayed close through much of the 1st half but the Jackets outscored the Trojans 35-8 after intermission as Telfair managed only 2 field goals over the last 2 quarters.
Benjamin buried 4 3-pt. shots and led the Jacket scoring with 24 points. Bryant scored 18, Jarrell 9, Sampson 8, Amare Burney 5, Durden 3, and Preston Godwin, Kolten Powell and Jaiden King added 2 points each.
J. Sutton scored 14 to lead Telfair County.
Saturday in Alamo, Wheeler County jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game and held a 17-7 lead as the 1st quarter came to an end. By halftime the Jackets had moved in front 30-29. In the second half, the Jackets built big leads but the Bulldogs kept fighting back until the Jackets finally prevailed by 8, 74-66.
The Jackets had a balanced scoring attack led by Benjamin, Sampson and West with 16 each and Bryant with 13. Jarrell had 7, Durden 4 and Godwin 2.
Wheeler’s junior Michael Wright Jr., son of Bulldog coach Michael Wright Sr., was a thorn in the Yellow Jackets side all evening as he scored 33 points.
Score by quarters:
ACHS 6 16 6 8 -36
JDHS 10 7 17 12 -46
JDHS 16 22 19 16 -73
TCHS 14 15 3 5 -37
JDHS 7 23 24 20 -74
WCHS 17 12 19 18 -66
