Joshua TecThe final day of the 6-6A tournament kicked off with a pair of closely fought games, which set the tone for the rest of the night. First, the Pope Greyhound girls beat the Kennesaw Mountain Lady Mustangs, 30-26, and then, the South Cobb Eagles came from behind to beat the Pope boys, 62-60, at the buzzer.
The tone of the girls game was set early when both teams struggled from the floor. Pope jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but all of their points came at the free-throw line. Luckily for the Lady Greyhounds, Kennesaw Mountain couldn’t find the bottom of the net either.
In the second quarter, Pope took a 10-point lead before both teams went on an extended scoring drought. The Lady Mustangs scored back-to-back field goals to get them back into the game.
At the half, Pope was hanging on to a 3-point lead.
The Lady Mustangs went on a run in the third quarter that secured the lead for them. After exchanging the lead, Madi Clark gave Kennesaw Mountain a 23-21 lead going into the final quarter. The Lady Greyhounds were able to close on a 9-0 run though and won a close game, 30-26.
Madi Clark was one of the best players on the court, as she scored 13 points for the Mustangs.
Cheyenne Holloman continued her fantastic season by scoring 14 points in the Greyhound win.
After clearing the arena for sanitizing, the boys’ consolation game was next. South Cobb’s Jens Rueckert hit a buzzer-beating put-back that gave the Eagles a 62-60 win. South Cobb closed the game on a 10-0 run while Pope missed the front end of multiple one-and-one opportunities.
Pope controlled the game most of the way through. South Cobb’s only lead of the game came on Rueckert’s points to close the game.
Early on, Will Kolker and Cam Bleshoy were wreaking havoc on the court. Kolker’s passing acumen led to wide-open shots for the Greyhounds, and Bleshoy was putting in work around the basket.
At halftime, the Greyhounds had a 35-27 advantage.
In the third quarter, South Cobb started to get going. Shots that weren’t falling in the first half started to drop. Pope’s hot shooting cooled significantly.
By the quarter’s end, the Eagles had cut the lead to four.
Cam Bleshoy started the fourth quarter hot for Pope. He scored 9 points in the quarter, and he fouled out Travis Burrus, who had been leading South Cobb’s comeback. It looked like the Greyhounds would pull away while Burrus was relegated to the bench, but South Cobb kept pushing on and pulled out the thrilling victory.
Will Kolker and Cam Bleshoy led the way for the Greyhounds. They each finished with 20 points. Zach Marinko added 10 points.
Kolker was one of the best performers of the tournament. He averaged 23.5 points throughout the event.
Travis Burrus led the way for the Eagles with 19 points. He was followed by Baqi Lecky and Daquan Riggins, who scored 12 points each.
Next, each of the teams turns their attention to the 6A state tournament.
