Stone Mountain’s Rico Huff (12) drives against Lithonia’s Sydarius Stinton (3) during Region 6-4A boys’ action on Friday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Class 4A No. 2 ranked Lithonia Bulldogs turned up the heat in the third quarter to put some distance between themselves and DeKalb rivals Stone Mountain Pirates on the way to a 70-49 Region 6-4A victory at Stone Mountain to end the regular season.
The scrappy Pirates led for most of the first half before Ty’Heem Freeman knocked down a three-pointer just before the end of the second quarter to give Lithonia its first lead of the game heading to the half.
Jacara Cross and Derious Wimbley teamed up to start the second half run for the Bulldogs (20-4, 17-1) with Wimbley feeding Cross for the opening basket of the second half. Wimbley picked up an offensive rebound put-back just seconds later for a quick 4-0 jump start in the third period.
The lead stretched out to 38-29 as Rodney Chatman took a nice pass from Freeman for an easy bucket and was fouled. He completed the three-point play and Freeman added two quick baskets on assists from Cross and Wimbley.
Stone Mountain got its last basket for the next two minutes on a Dunnell Stafford drive to the basket with 4:23 to play in the quarter before Chatman would start a 10-0 run with a drive to the basket for Lithonia.
The Bulldog run was finished off with Cross making a steal near midcourt and taking it home for the jam and a 48-31 lead with 2:38 to play in the quarter. Cross would add three more points in the final 1:02 with a nice spin move and a later free throw to send the Bulldogs into the fourth quarter up 53-38.
A pair of Freeman layups sandwiched another Cross dunk to go with a basket by Sydarius Stinton as Lithonia opened the final quarter with a quick 8-0 to extend the lead to 61-38 with 6:21 to play.
The Pirates (12-13, 8-10) came out hot on senior night at Stone Mountain jumping out to the early lead behind the play of Michael Ghraham and Dent.
Dent opened the scoring with a drive to the basket and a free-throw for the old fashioned three-point play while Ghraham hit a pair of baskets in the lane for an early 7-5 lead.
Three pointers by Dent and Michael Williams made it 13-10 with 47 seconds left in the first quarter and Dent added a pair of technical free throws for a 15-10 Pirate advantage heading into the second quarter.
A Chatman three with 1:35 left in the half tied the game at 24-24 before Ghraham gave the Pirates the lead again with a short jumper with 58 seconds left in the half.
Freeman’s three with 43 seconds left in the first half gave the Bulldogs the momentum headed into the half up 27-26.
Freeman led the Bulldogs with a game-high 19 points followed by Jacara Cross with 15 points and Rodney Chatman adding 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ghraham finished with 14 points to lead Stone Mountain and teammate Muhammed Dent added 11 points on the night.
Stone Mountain’s Alexis Stephens-Warren (2) puts in the first points of the night against Lithonia’s Kayln Greer (10). (Photo by Mark Brock)
(G) Stone Mountain 64, Lithonia 42
The Stone Mountain Lady Pirates seniors went out in style in their final home high school basketball game with a 64-42 victory over the Lithonia Bulldogs.
Stone Mountain opened the night by honoring senior Kyann Perry before the game with a basketball commemorating her joining the 1,000 career point club earlier in the week.
The game was knotted at 6-6 with 3:46 left in the first quarter when the Lady Pirates (12-12) went on a 9-0 run with all the points coming from Perry and Alexis Stephens-Warren to make it 15-6 with 47 seconds remaining in the period. Perry (7) and Stephens-Warren (8) combined for all 15 points in the quarter.
Kaira Banks hit a jumper to pull Lithonia within 15-8 as the teams went into the second period of play.
Perry showed why she scored over 1,000 points in two seasons as she spurred a 20-1 run to open the second quarter to give Stone Mountain a 35-9 lead with 3:23 left in the half. Perry had 9 points in the run and a basket by Effinity Hayes on an assist from Ceniah Flood following a steal.
Dana Latty’s three just before the buzzer gave the Lady Pirates a big 43-14 lead at the half.
Lithonia opened the second half with a 10-2 run led by Essence Harvey two baskets to open the third quarter, but could not get any closer than 20 points the rest of the way.
Harvey finished with a team high 10 points to lead Lithonia (1-17) while teammates Keyasia Sparks (8 points, 11 rebounds) and Alana Smith (6 points, 11 rebounds) cleaned up on the boards.
Alexis Stephens-Warren came up with a game-high of 21 points followed by Kyann Perry with 16 and Dana Latty with 13.