ATLANTA -- After a difficult Friday night in the capital, the state ranked Fayette basketball teams can take solace in one fact: at least it wasn't the region tournament.
That's exactly what Lady Tigers head coach John Strickland said after his team rallied late, but could not quite catch the Mays Lady Raiders.
"This is a tough place to play with the atmosphere they create," Strickland explained.
"We've been in big games before and it's going to be like this the rest of the way. We're going to have to win those two-point and three-point games. It's our first region loss in a while, so it stings, but hopefully we'll see them again in the tournament. We still have some fuel left in the tank."
Shortly after the Lady Tigers fourth quarter comeback fell short, the Mays Raiders rallied past the Fayette boys with a ferocious fourth quarter of their own.
Led by star guard Aloys Cabell, the Raiders outscored Fayette 27-15 in the final frame to win 65-58.
The Tigers led for most of the nightcap. Starting center Ekene Anachebe went down early with an ankle injury and did not return, but forwards Ian Clarke and Eric Lauderdale stepped in and took on Anachebe's role in the paint. Clarke, Lauderdale, L.J. Erves and Maurice Williams did an exceptional job crashing the boards, out-rebounding the Raiders to set up the second chance opportunities that staked the Tigers to a 13-7 early advantage.
Mays point guard Arya Strong hit a pair of free throws and converted a Fayette turnover into a fast break layup to make it 13-11 after one.
Cabell's two tied things up at 13 before Fayette went on another run. With a defense designed to lock down Fayette's prolific scorer Adam Smith and Cabell dogging the Tigers' second leading scorer L.J. Erves, Williams found himself open repeatedly near the perimeter.
The three year starter took advantage, knocking home back to back three pointers. Fayette's defense created some turnovers, allowing the Tigers to get out and run. After a steal, Anthony Harper zipped a cross court pass to Erves for a thundering alley-oop, giving Fayette a 33-26 halftime advantage.
Smith came out firing from the break, netting back to back jumpers over Strong and Cabell to push the Fayette lead to double digits. However, Smith soon went cold. He struggled to find his shot for much of the remainder of the game.
The Raiders successfully slowed things down in the third. Strong free throw shooting by Cabell and Kendall Leslie allowed the home team to creep back into the game. In the fourth, it was much of the same.
The formula is a familiar one for Coach Floyd Mack's well-disciplined Raiders -- play strong defense, limit fast break opportunities, milk the clock and get to the free throw line. With two of the region's best drivers and free throw shooters in Cabell and Strong, the formula works more often than not.
It worked on the road at McIntosh and Sandy Creek last month. And Friday, it worked at home against the fifth-ranked Tigers.
Cabell's two gave the Raiders a 45-43 lead with just under six minutes to play. Another Erves dunk and a long Smith three kept Fayette in it, but Cabell's driving layup and one put the home team up by four with 40 seconds to play.
Erves and Smith missed three-pointers and Mays clinched the win with strong shooting from the line.
Cabell finished with a game-high 22 points. Smith led the Tigers with 18. Erves and Williams cracked double figures for the Tigers with 14 and 11 respectively. Homer Causey added 11 for the Raiders.
The losses knocked both of the Fayette teams out of first place with just a game to go before the Region 5-AAAA tournament.
"This is the first time in a while we'll go into the tournament without the number one seed," Strickland.
"But that will not change our approach. Winning the region remains one of our goals."
The Lady Tigers will battle Douglas County at home tonight. The winner will take the number two seed into next week's tournament. The loser will get the third seed.
The Fayette boys have clinched at least a number three seed. The only way the Tigers could move up is with help from Sandy Creek. If the slumping Patriots can upset the Lions on the road tonight, Fayette, Mays and Lithia Springs will be locked in a three way tie for first. |
