Last week proved just how strong a team the East Jackson Eagles are after they nailed down sole possession of second place in the subregion with a strong victory over Banks County.
Next up is a home stand against a strong Rabun County team on Friday. The Wildcats entered play on Tuesday 5-4 in the region, and 12-9 overall, fresh off a win over Union County.
The two teams have split their last two meetings, with East Jackson winning the first and Rabun County the second. Both games were in January of 2008.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
Banks County
The Eagles were hoping to keep their momentum up off of a Jan. 24 win over Washington-Wilkes as they hosted Banks County last Tuesday. The Leopards were hoping to close in on the second place Eagles in the subregion standings. They entered the game with a 3-4 region record, and were hoping to end a four game losing streak with a win on East Jackson’s turf.
But the Eagles had different plans. They took command of the game early, moving out to a 14-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Leopards came fighting back in the second quarter, putting 23 points on the board, while
East Jackson added 15, giving the game a 29-29 score going into the half.
The third quarter told the tale. As they held Banks County to only eight points in the quarter, the Eagles added 26 points to take a 55-37 lead. East Jackson stayed in control through the fourth quarter to put away the win 66-44.
Kolby Gilbert led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points, while Terry Cox scored 12 and Standrick Stephens scored 10.
Oconee County
Things didn’t go quite as well for the Eagles on Saturday, as they faced non-region opponent Oconee County. The Eagles were hoping to garner a little revenge over the 7-10 Warriors, who had twice defeated them this season.
After struggling for much of the game, East Jackson was able to gain some ground on Oconee in the third quarter, and found themselves trailing by one point, 32-31, going into the fourth quarter. But the Warriors stepped up, hitting some key shots down the stretch, and came away with a 49-43 win.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News or The Jackson Herald.
