AMERICUS – Monday night, July 16, marked the beginning of the final three days of the regular season in the Dwight Harris Boys Club (DHBC) Basketball Summer League being played at Americus-Sumter Ninth Grade Academy.

On Monday night, July 16, there were two 11u division games, one 8u division game and one 17u division game. The first three games were exciting, but the final scores were lop-sided. The final game of the night featured the 17u division game between the Cavaliers and the Jazz. This game took overtime to decide a winner.

The first game of the night was an 11u division game between the Celtics and the Warriors. In the first few minutes of the game, both teams started out evenly matched with the score tied 4-4. However, the Celtics went on a 12-0 run to take a 16-4 lead, capped off by a three-pointer by Briceton Terry. By halftime, the Celtics had an 18-8 lead. Corderal Leverett led the Celtics in the first half with eight points. Terry had five and Corderian Leverett scored three points on a three-pointer. The Warriors outscored the Celtics 4-2 to begin the first half and cut their deficit to 20-12. However, Aston Pope scored two straight baskets to put the Celtics up 24-12. This was the beginning of an 18-6 run for the Celtics. It was capped off by a three-pointer by Corderian Leverett. At that point, the Celtics had a commanding 38-18 lead and went on to win 40-19.

Corderal Leverett led all scorers with 13 points. Corderian Leverett and Aston Pope each scored eight points. Briceton Terry score seven points and Derrick Jones scored four. For the Warriors, they were led in scoring by Arthur Mays with eight points. Kendrell Butler scored six points. Jaseph Jackson scored three points and Austin Davis scored two.

The second game of the night featured an 8u division tilt between the Warriors and the Macon County Bulldogs. The Warriors took a 3-0 lead to start the game as Camryn Watts scored and was fouled while shooting. Watts made his free throw to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead. However, that lead would not last long. Macon County went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 lead and led 13-7 by halftime.

The Bulldogs took control in the second half as they went on a 13-2 run to close out the game, winning 26-9. Lavoris Smith and Timothy Warren led the Bulldogs with eight points and Lamarrion Smith scored four. The 8u Warriors were led in scoring by Dometrius Monts with four points and Camryn Watts had three. Jarmaine Curry also hit two free throws for the Warriors.

The next game was an 11u division game between the Macon County Bulldogs and the Cavaliers. This one was a tough one for the Cavs. They played extremely hard and fought as hard as they could in this game. However, they were overwhelmed by the size and quickness of the Macon County team. Macon County jumped out to a 22-0 lead by halftime. They pressed the entire first half, forcing the Cavaliers into committing turnovers and converting those turnovers into points. The same thing continued in the second half. Macon County continued to full-court press the Cavaliers, forcing turnovers. The Bulldogs scored 23 unanswered points to broaden their lead to 45-0. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, with 2.7 seconds left in the game, Jaden Tatum was able to score a layup to avoid the shut out. The final score was 45-2.

Jordan Hudson scored 27 points to lead Macon County. Frankie Raines had nine points. Joshua Fulks scored five. Tyler Stephens had four and Jhamarrion Whitehead hit one free throw.

The final game of the evening featured two athletic and highly-skilled teams in the 17u Cavaliers and the Jazz. This was a game that went back and forth the entire way, and it took overtime to decide the winner. With the score tied 72-72, Gabe Roland of the Jazz had a chance to give his team the win in regulation. However, his baseline jumper was short, and the game went into overtime.

In the overtime period, Jy’Kobie Brown was fouled and made one of two free throws to give the Jazz a 73-72 lead. On the Cavaliers’ next possession, they were called for an offensive foul. The Jazz had a chance to extend their lead. Jordan Taylor was fouled and made one of two free throws. With the Jazz up 74-72, the Cavaliers had the ball. Jakontist Gordan hit a three-pointer to give the Cavaliers a 75-74 lead. The Cavaliers had a chance to extend their lead as Gordan was fouled. He went to the line to shoot one-and-one and made both free throws. The Jazz then had the ball, but turned it over with 19.3 seconds left. However, the Jazz forced a turnover, giving themselves one last chance to tie the game and send it into double overtime. However, Jordan Taylor’s three-point attempt at the horn was no good, and the Cavaliers escaped with a hard-fought 77-74 victory.

Throughout this game, it was a back-and-forth affair, with the Jazz owning a 34-31 lead at halftime. Jordan Taylor led the Jazz with 12 points in the first half, including two three-pointers. Taylor would end up leading all scorers with 35 points. Quevolia Willoughby led the Cavaliers with eight first-half points. He would end up scoring 16 for the game. The second half was much like the first. The Cavaliers scored the first four points of the second half to take a 35-34 lead. However, the Jazz went on a 5-0 run to take a 39-35 lead, capped off by a basket by Jordan Taylor. Then the Cavaliers went on a short run of their own, outscoring the Jazz 9-2 to take a 44-41 lead. This was capped off by a three-pointer off the backboard by Jamarcus Deriso. The Cavaliers maintained the lead for most of the second half. They led 56-53 when they scored 11 unanswered points to take a 64-53 lead. However, the Jazz came back with an 8-0 run of their own, capped off by another three-pointer by Taylor. The Jazz continued to stay within striking distance of the Cavaliers as regulation was winding down. The Cavaliers were up 70-66 at one point, but the Jazz outscored the Cavaliers 4-2 to trail 72-70 with 9.6 seconds left in regulation. The Jazz had the ball and Taylor was fouled. He made both free throws to tie the game at 72-72. Both teams had a shot to get a winning basket in regulation, but were unable to. The game went into overtime and the Cavaliers were able to prevail in the extra period 77-74.

Jakontist Gordan scored 24 points to lead the Cavaliers. Quevolia Willoughby scored 16 and  Kanova Willoughby scored 15 points. For the Jazz, in addition to Taylor’s 35 points, Jy’Kobie Brown scored 19 points and Caleb Harvey scored eight.

There are two more nights of regular-season play before the DHBC playoffs begin on Thursday, July 19. They will go through Saturday, July 21, the day that the championship games of all four age groups will be played.