The Spalding Jaguars played hard Tuesday night, beating a strong Dutchtown team 75-64 at home behind Markee Dickerson’s 17 points and a couple of game-changing 3-pointers late in the third quarter.

Dutchtown (2-5 overall, 1-4 Region 4-AAAA Div. A) came out of the gates strong, pushing the pace and accumulating a 15-10 lead after the first quarter. The Jaguars (4-2 overall, 3-1 Region 4-AAAA Div. B) pushed back, exchanging leads several times before the Bulldogs pulled off on a strong note, taking the lead to 32-28 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Dutchtown extended its lead to 8 before Spalding came back. With 3:49 left in the third, Spalding cut the deficit down to 39-37, and at the 3:00 mark, Dickerson and Cameron Johnson combined for 8 points to put Spalding ahead 45-43. For the rest of the quarter, neither team budged, resulting in a 47-46 Jaguar lead heading into the fourth.

The score stayed tight for the first couple of minutes (neither team led by more than 9 points until the end of the game), but at 4:19 the Jaguars went to work. Treyvon Payne started what would be a 50 second possession for Spalding, claiming an offensive rebound and dishing it out to a teammate behind the arc. He missed, and so did the next four shooters, but the Jaguars never let Dutchtown gain control.

Finally, senior forward Stephen Thrash got the ball beyond the 3-point line with 3:30 left on the clock and drained the trey, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. On the ensuing inbounds pass from Dutchtown, Spalding stole the ball and senior guard Phillip Goodrum sank a knockdown trey to give the Jags a 62-55 lead with 3:20 left to go in the game.

The Jaguars led 66-61 before Dutchtown started playing the foul game, and they made their free throws for the final 75-64 margin.

Dutchtown was led by Donovahn Jones with 26 points. Rounding out Spalding’s leading scorers were Johnson with 13 points, Goodrum with 12 and Terence Brittain with 11. Xeryous Dewberry also had 8 and Thrash chipped in 7 for the Jags.

“We had a nice scoring balance and I was happy with that. We pressured Dutchtown and that led to turnovers and easy baskets for us,” said Jags head coach Kemo Spear. “I’m proud of the guys and their effort.”

The Jaguars’ next game is at 7 p.m. on Friday at Class AAAAAA No. 1 state-ranked Walton High School. Walton defeated Spalding 88-78 at SHS on Dec. 1.

SPALDING BOYS

Date |Opponent |Time/Score

11/24 |Jackson |W 58-44

11/27 |L. GROVE* |W 69-28

12/1 |WALTON |L 88-78

12/4 |E. Landing* |L 60-38

12/7 |WOODLAND* |W 57-51

12/11 |DUTCHTOWN* |W 75-64

12/14 |Walton |7:30

12/22 |Newnan |2:30

12/27 |Meriw Tour |TBA

12/28 |Meriw Tour |TBA

12/29 |Meriw Tour |TBA

1/4 |Riverdale* |7:30

1/8 |JONESBORO* |7:30

1/11 |Griffin* |8:30

1/12 |Stockbridge* |7:30

1/15 |N. Clayton* |7:30

1/18 |UPSON-LEE* |8:30

1/22 |RIVERDALE* |7:30

1/25 |Jonesboro* |7:30

1/26 |GRIFFIN* |7:30

2/1 |N. CLAYTON* |7:30

2/5 |Upson-Lee* |7:30

*Region 4-AAAA games

Home games in CAPS