From BleckleyProgress.com

High School Sports
Lady Royals upend Dodge for region title, Royals win consolation game.
By Dave Whitaker
Feb 12, 2017, 00:55

Jahnaria Brown shoots over defenders.


An old sports adage states that it's difficult for one team to beat another three times in the same season. After two double digit regular season losses to the Dodge County Squaws, the Lady Royals proved that adage true Saturday night.

The bench reacts as the clock hit 0.


After going up 12-10 on a Fellisia Young basket in the second, Dodge scored seven straight. Faith Harris' three capped BC's 10-2 run giving them a 22-21 lead at halftime. Kiziya Elvine had nine third quarter points and Fellisia Young scored with three seconds left as Bleckley led 41-38 going to the fourth.

The team with coaches John Stanley and Jenny Manning.


With 4:18 left in the game, the Lady Royals led 48-43. Dodge mounted a comeback, getting within one twice. Each time, BCHS responded. They went 6 for 6 at the foul line in the final 1:10 to win their first region title since 2013, 61-47. Young had 18 points. Brown and Elvine scored 11 each.

Torenio Davis soars to the basket.


In postgame media comments, head coach Jenny Manning thought one difference between this and previous games was their ability to handle Dodge's pressure defense. "I think we took care of the basketball a lot better tonight, made smarter decisions." She noted that two freshmen (Elvine and Jayla Willis) both played a lot of minutes and praised their efforts.

Nykeem Farrow drives past a Southwest player.


Manning believed the 10-2 run in the second was big for them. When asked if she thought one player stood out in terms of effort, Manning replied "I think it's a combination of all the kids."

Dontavian Harris gets a rebound.


Earlier that afternoon, the Royals took on Southwest in a consolation game. Torenio Davis' seven first quarter points gave the Royals an 11-9 lead. Up six in the second following Greg Mack's second three of the quarter, an 8-2 Patriot run closed the gap to 30-28 by halftime.

Mykel Anderson squares up to shoot.


Bleckley opened the third 15-0 en route to a 28-10 third quarter. They went on to win 72-50. Davis had 28 points. Willie Taylor scored 12 points. Nykeem Farrow finished with 10.

As top seed, the Lady Royals will host 1-AA fourth seed Thomasville February 17. The third seeded Royals will travel to second seed Thomasville February 18. Times are TBD.

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