The East Jackson Eagles will keep it close to home during the next week.
After beating Oglethorpe County last week, just missing a win against then-undefeated Elbert County, and dropping a non-region contest with Athens Christian, all of this week’s action will be in Jackson County.
With their record at 4-4 in the region and 9-12 overall, the Eagles face back-to-back-to-back challenges against two in-county rivals.
On Friday, East Jackson will travel to JCCHS to face the Panthers for the second time this season.
Jackson County, which enters the week off of a 47-45 victory over Oglethorpe County, will be looking for redemption after falling to the Eagles for the first time in school history, 43-41, on Jan. 22.
Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
The next day, the Eagles will host Jefferson in a game rescheduled from Jan. 14. The Dragons enter the week after handing Elbert County its first loss, 62-56. Jefferson has never lost to East Jackson.
That game begins 7:30 p.m.
That will be followed by the second meeting of the Eagles and the Dragons two days later, on Feb. 8, at Jefferson. Tipoff in that game is slated for 6 p.m.
“This weekend’s match-ups with both Jefferson and Jackson are going to be huge for us and for them,” said coach Brian Turner. “Of course there is always going to be something special about playing them, but now that all three of us are in the same subregion and battling for seeding for the upcoming tournament, that adds even more to it. I am sure that all three teams will be at their very best and would be surprised if both games did not come down to the wire where the team that makes one more play or hits one more free-throw wins the game.”
Oglethorpe County
The Eagles played at Oglethorpe County on Jan. 25.
The Eagles led 15-13 after one quarter, but the Patriots were up 33-30 at the break. East Jackson rallied in the third quarter, going on a 23-7 run to take a 50-43 advantage, then held off an Oglethorpe rally to secure a 72-66 win.
Cody Gibbs led the Eagles in scoring with 27 points. Trent Dowdy scored 15.
“The kids really came out focused and determined in the second half an played one of our best quarters of the year offensively and defensively,” Turner said.
Elbert County
On Friday, the Eagles hosted Elbert County’s Blue Devils, a team that had defeated them by 58 points on Jan. 4.
After a rough start to the game that saw the Blue Devils outscore East Jackson 15-4, the Eagles surged back in the second quarter, outscoring Elbert 17-11, cutting the lead to 26-21 at the half.
The Blue Devils pulled away in the third quarter, scoring 18 points to East Jackson’s eight, making it a 44-29 game at the end of the third. But the Eagles fought back over the final eight minutes of the game, and by the halfway point of the fourth quarter had tied the game, then pulled out to a four-point advantage. Alas, with a minute to go, Elbert came back to tie the game at 51. In the closing moments, the Blue Devils went 4-for-4 from the free throw line and then held on for the 55-51 victory.
Gibbs led the Eagles with 21 points. Jermaine Davis scored 10.
Athens Christian
On Saturday, the Eagles traveled to Athens Christian.
Athens Christian held a 22-21 first-quarter lead, extended it to 38-31 at the half and pushed it to 59-45 after three periods en route to a 73-59 win.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
