THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas Night Hawks (4-4) faced off against the Georgia Gwinnett College Grizzlies (6-3) for the first time in program history on Wednesday Night.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a quick lead thanks to defense and work on the glass. But LaTarius Montgomery got a midrange shot to go for the first points of the game for the Night Hawks.
Montgomery added an and-one to cut the GGC lead to one. However, a three-pointer from the Grizzlies brought the deficit back to four. Montgomery answered back with a jumper of her own to make it a one-possession game. Then Kennedy Collins drained a three-ball to give Thomas the lead.
A perfect trip to the line gave Gwinnett the lead back until a layup by Collins gave the Night Hawks back the lead. The two teams traded the lead again as a Grizzly three gave them a two-point advantage.
Thomas refused to back down, as Elicia Smith drained a three-pointer to put the Night Hawks ahead. Then on the next possession, Smith knocked down a layup to go up by three.
Zyi'Kiera King added to the run, making a three of her own to extend the lead to six, forcing a Gwinnett timeout.
Thomas closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run as Hill drained a layup with 33 seconds to go in the first, giving The Night Hawks a 22-14 lead.
The Grizzlies began to close the gap in the second quarter, as a free throw followed up by three from Christal Collins brought the lead down to four. Next, Collins knocked down a midrange shot to cut the lead to just two.
A layup from King held the Gwinnett run at bay, then a two-for-two trip to foul line for Madison Sheppard brought the lead back to six. A free throw and a layup brought the lead back to one, but King hit a layup on the fastbreak to go up by three.
Then a Grizzly layup with 42 seconds left gave the Night Hawks a one-point lead going into the locker room.
Both teams went basket-for-basket to begin the third quarter, as Kennedy Collins made a midrange jumper to bring the lead to three, then a jumper from Gwinnett kept it a one-possession game.
Hill went on to make a midrange shot of her own to make it a five-point lead. But a couple of shots at the charity stripe put the Grizzlies within three. However, Collins knocked down a three-pointer to bring the lead to six. Following a layup from Gwinnett, Collins drained another three. To make the lead seven.
After the Grizzlies cut the lead back to two, Montgomery added a layup to make it a two-possession game.
Then Smith knocked down another three to make 45-38, then Collins hit her third three of the quarter to give the Night Hawks their largest lead of the night, heading into the fourth.
Smith got the scoring started as she hit a layup to begin the quarter. Grizzlies did not go away, as two free throws and a layup cut the lead to single digits. However, Nandi Ramessar knocked down a three-pointer to make it an 11-point lead.
Hill and Ramessar both hit a free throw each, and Montgomery added a layup, to keep the Night Hawks' lead secure. Gwinnett added a three-ball to cut it back down to single digits. But Collins knocked down her fifth three of the game, which was the dagger for the Grizzlies.
After hitting five of their six free throws in the final seconds of the game, Thomas stood strong for the 65-56 victory.
"Big Time win! The girls stepped up!" Head Coach Jordan Booker said. "GGC is a tough, hard-nosed team. We turned the ball over still too much for my liking. But we were able to shoot 45% from the field and 43% from behind the three. Defensively we held them to 27% from the field and 17% from behind the three. The girls locked in on personal and took pride in defense!"
Collins led the Night Hawk offense with 19 points (5-10 from three) with four rebounds, a steal and a block. Montgomery notched her sixth double-double of the season, with 11 points and 19 rebounds, Finally, Ramessar added seven points and seven assists as well.
Thomas will return home to face ABAC in their SSAC opener on Saturday, November 22nd at 12:00p.m.
