Lady Indians Win Region Regular Season Title; Boys Win Second Straight Game

The Stephens County Lady Indians are the Region 8-AAA regular season girls’ basketball champions.

Down 47-40 with four minutes to go, Stephens County scored the last nine points of the game, capped by Breanna Taylor’s runner with 6 seconds to go, to edge the East Jackson Lady Eagles 49-47 Friday night in Commerce.

Kiki Howard led the Lady Indians with 13 points, while Ranajah Verdell added 11 points and Taylor chipped in 10, including the game-winner. Haven Rollins and Maurissa Thomas each had 16 points to lead East Jackson.

With the win, the Lady Indians finish as the top seed in Region 8-AAA girls’ basketball, with a 6-2 region record and 15-6 overall record. East Jackson’s girls finish second with a 5-3 region record and overall mark of 9-5.

Moving to the boys’ game, Stephens County jumped out 29-3 after the first quarter and was never challenged on the way to a 77-47 win over the East Jackson boys.

Corey Richie scored 27 points to lead the Indians, while Kenny Colwell added 13 points and Javian Hightower scored 10. Makayl Rakestraw led the Eagles with 15 points.

The Indian boys finish fifth in Region 8-AAA boys’ basketball with a 4-6 region record and overall record of 10-11. East Jackson’s boys finish sixth at 0-10 in the region and 3-14 overall.

Next up for both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams is the Region 8-AAA tournament next week. Stephens County will play Franklin County in the boys’ first round on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Oconee County. Airtime Tuesday on WNEG will be 4:45 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Lady Indians will play at home on Wednesday against the winner of a first-round game between Hart and Oconee.