With two games left for the Leopards in the regular season, the Banks County boys’ basketball team will finish out the season on the road, taking on Union County and Dawson County.
This week the boys head to Union County Friday night for an 8:30 p.m. tip-off. Union County, 4-1; 17-1, has already proven to be a tough challenge for the Leopards during the Jan. 18, 58-34 defeat. Banks County, 2-5; 5-14, will look to finish strong in the last regular season meeting with the Panthers.
Following Friday’s game, the Banks County Leopards next scheduled game is Feb. 11, as the boys rematch Dawson County in Dawsonville. Following the close loss to the Tigers last week, Dawson County, 2-4; 13-6, moved into the fourth seed in the sub-region. The Dawson County rematch will end the regular season and set the stage before the region tournament. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m.
Last week, the Banks County boys went 1-2 with a barn-burner Saturday victory over Oglethorpe County.
The final seconds of Saturday’s game had both sides on their feet as the Leopards and Patriots battled up and down the hardwood.
With just over two minutes left in the game, Banks County was down by five points. The Leopards were sent to the line as the inside man Seth McEntire worked his height to maneuver the ball at the board. McEntire shot 4-7 from the free-throw line, all in the fourth quarter, and dropped the tying score into the bucket ending his scoring run with 16 points. Oglethorpe worked back into a scoring position, but a key turnover gave the Leopards possession as Adam Hiten drew the foul to set up the winning points.
Banks County shot 57 percent from the line, hitting 19-33 free throws. Hitting the shots from the line made the difference as Oglethorpe had trouble finding the basket on the free throws. The Patriots had led the game, starting 15-12 after the first quarter. Extending the lead to 10 points, the Patriots outscored Banks County 14-7 before the break. Banks County started a comeback in the third quarter, the Leopards put up 17 points with McEntire and Harrison Dale leading the scoring with six and five respectively, while holding Oglethorpe to 11 points.
McEntire led the offense with 16 points, and a 57 shooting percentage from the FTL. Second leading scorer, Jacob Blalock kept the Leopards alive in the first half, scoring 11 points and dropping two threes. Hiten followed with eight points and 6-6 from the line. Trey Martin and Taylor Foster each put up six points, while Devin O’Donnell and Harrison Dale scored five points apiece. Jonah Thomas added one point from the line.
While Saturday’s victory was a great show for senior night and an uplift for the Leopards’ record, the win didn’t count to the sub-region standings.
Last Tuesday, Banks County took on Dawson County in a battle for the fourth seed spot in the sub-region. Dawson County shouldered past the Leopards in a 50-44 contest, to secure the position. Hiten led the team with 23 points and T. Martin added 14 points.
Following the Dawson County game, the Leopards took to the road to play Rabun County Friday night.
Rabun County defeated the Leopards 66-44 in the week prior and the outcome from Friday’s game was similar as the Banks County scoring was spread out in the 73-50 defeat. Foster was a consistent shooter, finding the bucket in each quarter. with 17 points including three threes, Foster led the offense. McEntire had some luck early, dropping in eight points and Hiten added seven points.
This week, Feb. 1, Banks County hosted East Hall in the home closer of the regular season. East Hall was 6-0; 15-5 going into the Tuesday night match-up. Results were unavailable at press time from Tuesday’s game.
