The Banks County High School varsity boys won all three games last week and improved their region record to 4-1 and overall record to 11-9 for the season. Posting wins over Union County 50-48, Fannin County 69-52 and Lumpkin County 73-64.
BCHS took a road trip to Union County and put a win in the region column beating the Panthers by two points. After trailing by four points in the first period, the Leopards got things moving and took a two-point lead by the half.
The Leopards extended their lead in the third period by eight points and had the Panthers by 10 points at the end of the period. The fourth period was a come back for Union and they outscored the Leopards by eight to make it a close game.
Taylor Foster scored 14 points, Jonah Thomas 12 points, Clayton Martin eight points, Greg Cannon seven points, Jacob Blalock five points and Adam Hiten scored four points for the Leopards.
BCHS made 22 of 57 field goals for a .386 percentage, 19 of 47 two point shots for a .404 percentage, 3 of 10 from three point range for a .300 percentage and had 14 assists with 29 rebounds, 9 offensive and 20 defensive. The Leopards turned the ball over 14 times with 8 steals and committed 10 personal fouls against Union County.
The Leopards fought the next two games at home and continued their winning ways against Fannin County. BCHS jumped out to an early lead and finished the first period 14 points ahead of the Rebels.
"Any sub region game is big,” Coach Mike Cleveland said. “We stressed this with the guys all week. After beating them on the road, I did not want us to have a let down. I thought our guys played hard with a lot of intensity. This game afforded us the opportunity to play all of our kids. Jonah Thomas broke the school record for charges in this game.”
The second period scoring was all tied up at 16 points each so the Leopards held on to their 14 point lead going into the half. The second half was a close game with just three points difference between the teams.
During the third period, the Leopards upped their lead by two points. BCHS scored consistently throughout the game and added one point to the lead in the fourth period to win the game by 17 points.
Brenton Ruark scored 14 points, Jacob Blalock 12 points, Taylor Foster 10 points, Adam Hiten nine points, Clayton Martin and Jonah Thomas scored seven points each, Tucker Gardiner six points and Greg Cannon scored four points for the Leopards win over Fannin.
BCHS made 22 of 49 field goals for a .449 percentage, 16 of 32 two point shots for a .500 percentage, 6 of 17 from three point range for a .353 percentage and had 16 assists with 22 rebounds, 7 offensive and 15 defensive. The Leopards turned the ball over 13 times with 10 steals and committed 26 personal fouls against Fannin County.
" Very similar to the Fannin game. Again, the team played hard. We were able to play a lot of guys. This is the time of year that you want to be playing well. I feel really good about the team and where we are. But, we will strive to get better every day. I never want us to be satisfied," said Coach Cleveland.
The Leopards hosted a non region match up against Lumpkin County on Saturday night and came out on top by nine points to take the win 73-64.
BCHS took a six point lead in the first period over the Indians and added to the lead one more point in the second period. The Leopards lead 40-33 at the half.
In the third period, the Leopards added eight points to the lead and the Indians took six back in the fourth period.
Taylor Foster scored 18 points, Jonah Thomas and Adam Hiten scored 17 points each, Clayton Martin nine points, Tucker Gardiner four points, Brenton Ruark and Jacob Blalock scored three points each and Greg Cannon scored two points for the Leopards.
BCHS made 27 of 60 field goals for a .450 percentage, 20 of 39 two point shots for a .513 percentage, 7 of 21 from three point range for a .333 percentage and had 17 assists with 36 rebounds, 13 offensive and 23 defensive. The Leopards turned the ball over 17 times with 12 steals and committed 17 personal fouls.
"This is a huge week for us in sub region play. Dawson and Rabun both have very good teams. This week will determine a lot about the sub region positions for the region tournament," said Cleveland. The Leopards will continue play in the region against Dawson on the 24th, Rabun on the 27th and East Hall on the 31st in January.
