HOMER, Ga. — Banks County hit 11 3-pointers, 8 in the first half, as the Leopards shot past East Jackson 83-68 on Friday in a crucial Region 8-2A contest at the Banks County gym.
The hot outside shooting is something Banks County (14-6, 5-0 Region 8-2A) has relied on during a now eight-game win streak. Leopards coach Ryan Griffin is hoping they can stay that way.
“We’ve been shooting the ball really well over this win streak, and hopefully we keep it up the rest of the season and into the region tournament,” he said.
Hunter Youngblood led the barrage, knocking down six, five in a 19-point first half, and finished with a game-high 30 points. Luke Dale drained four 3-pointers as part of his 17 points.
“Hunter has been playing well all season. He had the hot hand, and we were finding him early,” Griffin said. “That’s what I love about our team is that they have bought into sharing the ball. Once they embraced that, we started to take off.”
Both teams came out firing. In one stretch, they traded four 3-pointers, with the Eagles’ Qua Blalock hitting a long trey to give them an early 5-2 lead. But Banks County answered with a 17-4 run, with Luke Dale hitting a 3-pointer and Hunter Youngblood knocking down two more for a 9-0 run in just 50 seconds.
Youngblood later hit a jumper, and Dale followed with two treys for a 19-9 lead. East Jackson responded with a 7-1 run, capped by a Lucas Smith 3-pointer to pull within 20-16. But that’s as close as they would get the rest of the half.
Banks County closed out the first half with a 15-6 run, fittingly capped by a Youngblood 3-pointer with 3 seconds left for a 43-28 advantage.
Youngblood poured in 19 points in the first half, including five 3-pointers, 14 coming in the first quarter. Aaron Scott finished with 11 points for Banks County.
In the second half, East Jackson senior Birdy Cunningham single-handedly shot the Eagles back in the game. After Youngblood had given Banks County a 48-34 advantage, Cunningham scored the next 12 points, all on 3-pointers, the final one pulling them within 57-51 late in the third quarter.
Cunningham, who poured in 22 of his team-high 29 points after halftime, would hit his fifth 3-pointer of the half to get East Jackson within 62-58 with just under seven minutes left. But Youngblood and Dale, along with the Eagles going cold for more than three minutes, allowed the Leopards to push the lead back to 69-58.
Banks County closed out the game with a 10-2 run to put it away.
Brody Carruth had 11 points for East Jackson (8-10, 1-4 Region 8-2A).
