After losing their region opening game to the Glenn Hills Spartans recently, the Thomson High School Bulldogs have rebounded in a big way, picking up key region victories over Harlem and Cross Creek last week.
And as four other Region 3-AAA games come the Bulldogs' way over the next several days, nothing would please Thomson Head Coach Michael Thomas anymore than to see his team continue their winning ways.
Thomson, now 2-1 in region play and 9-5 overall, had no problems defeating the visiting Harlem High Bulldogs in the Thomson gym on Tuesday, Jan. 8 by a score of 89-68. The victors then traveled to Augusta three days later where they pulled off their second region win of the season by downing the Cross Creek Razorbacks, 79-73.
In both of those wins, the Bulldogs demonstrated much better shooting during second half play - a weakness they had encountered in several previous games. Another big improvement was at the free-throw line, which also had been a problem of late. In the game against Harlem, Thomson connected on 19-of-26 bonus shots, while in the game against Cross Creek, the Bulldogs were nearly perfect - hitting on 12-of-13 free-throws.
Thomson was scheduled to have played Washington County's Golden Hawks on Tuesday night at the Dog House in Thomson. They play Butler's Bulldogs this Friday night in Augusta. On Jan. 22, the Bulldogs play host to Glenn Hills in a rematch. Thomson's next two games, Jan. 25 and Jan. 26 will both be on the road against Harlem and Greene County.
Pacing Thomson in their big win over Harlem were senior guards LaQuinton Fort and Tim Daniels. Fort led the Bulldogs, tossing in 22 points, while Daniels added 18 points. Other players scoring in the game for Thomson were: Brandon Turman, 13, Richard Johnson, 11, Brandon Holmes, 11, Antonio Sturgis, 7, Terrance Houston, 2 and Marc Mims, 2.
Harlem was paced by Mike Leverett with 24 points and Lonnie Cook with 22.
Thomson wasted no time establishing a big lead over Harlem, as they hit for 28 points in the first quarter. Playing aggressive defense from the start, the Bulldogs limited Harlem to just eight points during the first eight minutes of the game.
Harlem mounted an attempted comeback during the third quarter when they outscored Thomson, 22-15. However, Thomson bounced right back in strong fashion during the fourth quarter outscoring Harlem 27-16.
In Thomson's impressive win over Cross Creek's Razorbacks, the Bulldogs had four players in double-digits. Leading the way in scoring, once again, was Fort, who hit 16 points. He was followed by Johnson with 14, Daniels, 14 and Holmes with 14. Other Thomson players scoring in that game included: Mims, 7, Sturgis, 5, Turman, 2, Mike Berry, 2 and Darius Eubanks, 1.
