Devils secure state playoff spot

Both WCHS basketball teams earned a trip to the state playoffs with victories in the first round of the region tournament Tuesday. The number one seed Warren County Lady Devils saw action against the number four seed Lady Warriors of Wilkinson County and the number two seed Screaming Devils took on the number three three seed Cobras of Twiggs County. Warren County hosted both games by virtue of being he higher seeded team in the tournament.

Few expected the Lady Devils to struggle against Wilkinson County. While the scoring was slow in the early minutes, The Devils steadily built an insurmountable lead as the game progressed. Warren County went to the locker room at the half with a 18-9 lead. The Lady Devils would score 32 points in the second half to dominate the Warriors and win by a score of 50-33.

Leading the way for the Lady Devils was last week's Augusta Chronicle player of the week, Candice Warthen, with 33 points.

While the girl's game went as many had scripted, the game between the Devils and the Cobras did not. Few people outside of Warren County gave the Devils much of a chance against Twiggs County. The Cobras were coming in off of impressive performances against top ranked Wilkinson County and Hancock County.

Warren County quickly let the Cobras know that they were in for a fight. The Devils held a slim one point lead at the end of the first quarter by the score of 14-13. The scond quarter was equally close. This time it was the Cobras with the advantage as they took a one point lead to the locker room with a score of 26-25.

Twiggs maintained their one point lead throughout the 3rd quarter. Warren County used the 4th quarter to prove that they simply wanted the victory more than the Cobras. The Devils outscored their opponent by 10 in the 4th to win by a score of 65-56.

The win was spurred by a well balanced offensive attack by the Devils. Warren County had five players in double digits in the scoring department. Jonathan Lewis led all scorers with 13. Darius Jenkin followed closely with 12. Tay Erwin, Dondracus Dozier, and Stanley Johnson each had 10 points for the contest.

Coach Grant credited the win to defense. "We made the stops on defense in the fourth quarter when we had to", said Grant. "I'm extremely proud of the effort our guys put forth tonight. Few people gave us a chance to win, but we went out and proved what we are capable of doing."

The Devils will have an even tougher mountain to climb tonight as they take on Wilkinson County in the second round of the region playoffs. Grant stated, "We're going to need to get the same offensive and defensive performance for four consecutive quarters that we got in the last quarter of the game against Twiggs if we are to have a chance to beat Wilkinson." Wilkinson County ranks as one of the top five teams in the state.

The Lady Devils will be taking on GMC in the 4:00 game today. GMC comes into the game with a 17-9 record. Coach Rhodes commented, "Our game plan is to press on defense and make them play us man-to-man on offense."