Douglas County, Midtown pick up Day 2 'Holiday Hoops' wins

Midtown head coach Shawnta Pope talks with team during timeout versus Lithia Springs

On Monday, the Douglas County annual 'Holiday Hoops' classic continued with day two action which included the Douglas County boys basketball team looking to notch their second straight win as they took on county rival, the Lithia Springs Lions and the Midtown Knights girls basketball team, looking to end their two game losing streak as they faced the Lithia Springs Lions girls basketball team.

In the fourth game of the day, Douglas County hit the hardwood looking to build off of their 56-50 win over Drew Charter last week and opened up Monday's game outscoring Lithia Springs 18-11 in the opening quarter. In the second quarter, the Lions would get withing three points of the Tigers as they kicked off the quarter on a 6-2 run, however, Douglas County would close out the period outscoring the Lions 8-2 to take a 31-27 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, Lithia Springs opened the period on a quick 5-0 run to take a 32-31 lead, however, the Tigers responded with a dominant finish to the quarter as a 15-3 run would propel them to a 46-35 lead at the end of the quarter. As the fourth quarter got underway, the Tigers continued to maintain control as they won the period 21-13 to pick up the 67-48 win.

"Real team effort," Douglas County head coach, Keith Simmons, said following the Tigers win as he praised his players for performance, specifically on the defensive end, in the victory. "I feel like the guys galvanized on the defensive end. Slow start but then we got it together," Simmons said of the Tigers placing emphasis on their defensive efforts.

Offensively, Douglas County was led by junior, Kamarii Reed, who finished with a team high 19 points, with sophomore, Jayden Avery contributing 14 points. "I think it was a good team game," Simmons said of the Tigers.

The Douglas County win was followed up by the Midtown Knights girls hit the court and after a first quarter, which featured multiple lead changes, and ended with the Knights leading Lithia Springs 13-12, senior, Devin Bockman, would score 11 of her 31 points in the second quarter to help lead the Knights to a 30-14 lead at halftime.

Midtown's momentum continued well into the third quarter as their defensive efforts helped them outscore the Lions 14-5 in the quarter as they took a 44-19 lead and go on to win by a final score of 63-24 as senior, Hailey Wortmann added 15 points in the win. "A little more hustle and heart," Midtown head coach, Shawnta Pope said of the Knights' performance.

"Getting on the floor, the little things that we preach about in practice each and every day," Pope, who is in her first season as the Knights' head coach, added as she praised her players for how well they played in Monday's win.