Singletary brothers lead Hawkinsville to victory over Wildcats

Published 1:10 am Saturday, January 20, 2018

ELLAVILLE – The Schley County Wildcats seemed as if they were in control at halftime, but in the second half, two brothers, Java’n and Desmond Singletary, led the Hawkinsville Red Devils to a come-from-behind 62-57 victory over the Wildcats.

Desmond Singletary led all scorers with 24 points, while his brother, Java’n Singletary, poured in 20 in the winning cause.

With the loss, Schley County (7-9, 4-6) falls down to fifth in Region 1-A. While he was proud of his team’s effort, Schley County Head Coach Ernest Scott knows his team missed several opportunities at the foul line. “The effort was there defensively. We missed too many free throws. We were 16 for 30 from the free-throw line. We left 14 points on the line”, Coach Scott said. “We need to pay attention to details and do the things that we need to do to be successful. We just didn’t get it done.”

Schley County had two players in double-figures. Jordan Taylor led the way with 15 points and Kevin Stone had 12. “They (Hawkinsville) hustled harder than us. They got after it and they just got the job done”, Stone said. “There’s nothing we can do about it but play better, play harder and look forward to the next game.”

The first quarter was a hard-fought, back-and-forth battle between both teams. Schley County opened the scoring with a jumper from Ja’Myron Clayton. From then on, both teams traded baskets, with the Wildcats having an 11-10 lead by the end of the quarter.

Schley County junior shooting guard Noah Hammons advances the ball against Hawkinsville

Schley County went on a 12-2 run in the second quarter, which was capped off by a three-pointer by Jordan Taylor. With two minutes to go in the first half, the Red Devils tried full-court pressure, but the Wildcats were able to break it. Schley County’s last basket of the half came when Clayton made an ally-oop pass to Ashton Goodin, who scored to give the Wildcats a 31-18 lead. However, Java’n Singletary nailed a three-pointer just before the half ended to cut the Wildcats’ halftime lead to 31-21.

The beginning of the second half was evenly played, with each team scoring five points. Then with five minutes left in the third quarter, Java’n Singletary scored again, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 36-28. Then the Red Devils used full-court pressure to go on a 6-2 run, cutting Schley County’s lead to 38-32. During this time, the Wildcats struggled scoring as they went cold from the field. The Red Devils cut the lead even further when Travis Westbrook scored on the inside. However, The Wildcats finally stopped their scoring drought when Ashton Goodin scored to make it 40-34 Schley County. However, Desmond Singletary nailed a three-pointer to bring Hawkinsville to within three points. It seemed as if the Red Devils had the momentum as the third quarter was winding down. At this point they only trailed 41-39, but Ashton Goodin scored at the buzzer for Schley County, giving the Wildcats a 43-39 lead to start the fourth quarter.

The momentum swung back towards the Wildcats to begin the fourth quarter as Calvin Smith nailed a three-pointer to increase the lead back up to seven. However, Desmond Singletary scored to cut Schley County’s lead to 46-41 with a little over six minutes to go. However, the Red Devils went on a 7-0 run to take a 48-46 lead as the result of using full-court pressure. They created three straight turnovers and turned them into points. The run was spear-headed by Desmond Singletary as he scored four points to help get Hawkinsville the lead.

“I don’t know how many turnovers we had. I’m sure we had 18 or more. We had eight at halftime”, Coach Scott said. “We just have to learn how to control the basketball…control the tempo of the game.”

With 3:18 left in the game and Hawkinsville up 51-49, the Red Devils increased their lead to four when Java’n Singletary scored. However, with 2:57 left, Desmond Singletary was assessed a technical foul. Schley County’s Zykevious Walker hit one of the two technical foul shots to cut the deficit to three at 53-50. However, Hawkinsville’s Willie Westbrook was able to score to put the Red Devils up by five. Then Hawkinsville got a steal and Tabious Jones was fouled. Jones hit one of two free throws, giving the Red Devils a 56-50 lead with 2:02 to go in the game.

Schley County was unable to score on their next possession, and the Red Devils made them pay as Java’n Singletary drove to the basket and scored. Zykevious Walker responded with a basket for Schley County to try to keep the Wildcats in the game. Then with 23.1 seconds to go, Zamon Ross hit one of two free throws to cut the Red Devils’ lead to 60-54. Now it was time for Schley County to foul and for Hawkinsville to make free throws. Java’n Singletary was fouled with 18.8 seconds to go, but made one of the two free throws. Then with 10.1 seconds left, Schley County’s Dylan Taylor gave the Wildcats some hope with a three-pointer, making the score 61-57 Hawkinsville.

Schley County tried for the steal but couldn’t get the ball and had to foul Desmond Singletary. Singletary made one of two free throws, but it was enough as Hawkinsville earned a tough victory on the road by the score of 62-57.