"Refocused" Walton opens region play with win over Cherokee
As the second half of the Georgia High Association basketball season has gotten underway and teams begin to get into region play, the Walton Raiders boys basketball team hosted the Cherokee Warriors on Tuesday in the region opener for both teams. While the Warriors looked to notch their third consecutive win, the Raiders looked to get back in the win column after having their five game win streak snapped by Lassiter on Saturday.
As the game got underway, the score would remain relatively close early on in the first quarter, including a couple of lead changes, however at Cherokee took a 7-6 lead thanks to a Braylen Luster three-point basket, the Raiders would close out the quarter outscoring the Warriors 15-8 and would take a 21-15 lead into the second quarter. Showing more poise and control, the Raiders would extend their lead to 15 points as they would take a 44-29 lead into the locker room at the half and would control the game down the stretch in route to an 87-53 win.
As the Raiders victory put them back into the win column and help them improve to 13-3 on the season, Walton head coach, Bo Abney, said that it was good to see his team get right back on track after coming off Saturday's loss. "Lassiter hit us in the mouth. We weren't ready to play, they're a great team and we just weren't ready so we kind of refocused on the things that we've been doing all year to be successful," Abney said noting that the Raiders rely on senior, Khamani Paxton, to help the team get into their rhythm.
"He's our glue guy, he's our energy guy and he made sure that we were ready to play tonight," Abney said of Paxton's efforts to inspire the Raiders' performance. "Everybody played well," Abney said of his players, crediting them for their unselfishness for being key to the success the Raiders have been having this season. "A lot of them are returners, been around for a while but they brought along some of the new guys, there's some good added pieces and they just love each other and play together and play the right way," Abney said.
