Boys avenge loss but fall to Fitz

 

Jeff Davis High’s boys basketball team went 2-for-3 last week in region games, falling to league-leading Fitzgerald 71-50 Tuesday in Hazlehurst, edging Worth County 58-57 Friday in Sylvester and avenging an earlier region loss Saturday as they plastered Bacon County 66-30 in Hazlehurst.
Saturday night’s game was interrupted briefly when senior point guard J.J. Benjamin scored a basket that pushed his career scoring total to 1,000 points. Benjamin was recognized during the break in the action.
Fitzgerald’s boys came to Hazlehurst Tuesday with an unbeaten region record and Jeff Davis, with only one region defeat had a chance make a big move. The Jackets gave the Hurricanes a battle in the early going but the fast and athletic Canes kept beating the Jackets down the court and ran away in the second half for the 21-pt. victory.
JD led 16-14 after one quarter and trailed only 33-28 at halftime. But the 2nd half was all Fitzgerald.
J.J. Benjamin led the Jeff Davis scoring with 18, A.J. Sampson had 13, Jaiden West 5, J.T. Bryant and Mark Durden 4 each, and Amare Burney, Preston Godwin and Jaiden King had 2 apiece. The Jackets played without sophomore forward Kolby Jordan who plays a big role for the Jackets.
Jeff Hicks scored 21 points for Fitzgerald and Daniel Harris had 17, 15 in the 1st half.
Friday in Sylvester, the Yellow Jackets came out blazing and built a 32-25 halftime lead. At one point in the 4th quarter, JD held a 13-pt. lead. But the Rams battled back and Jeff Davis won by a single point, 58-57.
Benjamin scored 11 points in the 1st quarter and finished with 21 to lead JD scoring. Durden had 10, Sampson and Burney 8 each, Jarrell 7 and Bryant 4.
The Yellow Jacket boys had been looking forward to playing Bacon County since the Raiders upset them 60-53 on Jan. 9 in Alma. Saturday night, they got their chance to avenge the loss and did it in a big way.
The Yellow Jackets’ swarming defense held the Raiders to just three field goals in the first half and JD led 34-6 at intermission. Benjamin and Sampson led the 1st half scoring blitz with the 6′-7″ Sampson hitting a pair of 3-point shots and swatting away Raider shots near the basket.
Bacon staged a short comeback in the 3rd quarter but, with just under 2 minutes to play in the game, the Jacket lead was large enough for Coach Thomas McAboy to empty his bench.
Benjamin and Bryant both had 16 points, Durden 9, Sampson 8 – all in the 1st quarter – King 7, Jarrell 5, Jaron Cochran 2 and Burney 1.
Jamon Ellis topped Bacon with 11.
Score by quarters:
Fitz 14 19 14 24 -71
JDHS 16 12 8 14 -50

JDHS 21 11 13 13 -58
WCHS 15 10 15 17 -57

BCHS 4 2 17 7 -30
JDHS 22 12 14 18 -66