AMERICUS – Southland Academy’s Calyn Fort scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Lady Raiders (4-1) to a 42-28 victory over the Lady Warriors of Southwest Georgia Academy Tuesday night, December 4, at Southland Academy.

“We wanted to jump on them early just to see if we could get our energy going and we did a good job there,” Southland Head Coach Ty Kinslow said. “Like most teams, once they saw our press, they adjusted and we backed off a little bit. We came back with a press in the second half. Near the end of the game, we did a good job of keeping our composure, keeping the lead and making them come out and guard us. As a result, we were able to get some easy shots.”

Holly McCain scored eight points and had seven rebounds on the night. Macy Williams also chipped in eight points for the Lady Raiders. Maddie Crisp had six points. Haleigh Warren scored four points and Sydney Payne scored a basket, along with dishing out four assists.

The Lady Raiders jumped out to an early 8-0 lead thanks to full-court pressure. The Lady Raiders forced SGA into committing several turnovers and turned them into points. The Lady Warriors didn’t score until the 3:42 mark of the first quarter. A couple of minutes later, with Southland leading 12-4, Calyn Fort nailed a three-pointer to put the Lady Raiders up by 11. Then near the end of the first quarter, McCain scored to give Southland a 17-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.

However, the Warriors stormed back in the second quarter to make it a game. Karsyn Carver, L.A. Wilkerson and Ellie Bridges scored to bring the Lady Warriors back. By halftime, SGA only trailed 21-16.

By halftime, Fort was leading the Lady Raiders with seven points and both McCain and Williams had six. Carver led SGA at the half with six points.

The Lady Warriors scored four unanswered points to start the second half, but Southland responded by going on a 5-1 run of their own.

However, as the third quarter approached the three-minute mark, both teams were struggling to score. At the 3:06 mark, the Lady Raiders led 26-22, but both teams traded baskets, making the score 28-24 Southland. The Lady Raiders scored five unanswered points, including two free throws by Maddie Crisp, to take a 33-24 lead by the end of the third quarter.

With a little over four minutes left in the game, Fort nailed a three-pointer to give the Lady Raiders a 38-24 lead. However, SGA scored four unanswered points to cut Southland’s lead to 10, prompting Kinslow to call a timeout with 3:37 left.

Out of the timeout, the Lady Raiders were able to settle down. They scored two more baskets to seal the victory, the last one coming from Maddie Crisp to give Southland a 42-28 victory.

Up next for the Lady Raiders is a home game on Saturday, December 8, against Lee-Scott Academy from Auburn, AL. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.