Greenbrier girls stay unbeaten

Greenbrier High School's girls remained the only undefeated girls basketball team in Columbia County with a big win over Lakeside on Friday night.

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The Lady Wolfpack beat Lakeside by 10 points in their first game of the season. Three weeks later, Greenbrier won 60-32.

"We've gotten better every game," Greenbrier girls basketball coach Garrett Black said. "That's the important thing."

It was once again Greenbrier's full-court press that made the difference in the game. Senior guard Sara Oland scored all of her game-high 19 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers in the win. The Lady Wolfpack nailed a total of eight 3-pointers.

"That's a lot," Black said. "That's a good shooting night this year."

The Lady Wolfpack were once much more deadly from the 3-point line, but graduation turnover in the past two years has robbed the team of most of its outside shooters. Black said playing time is up for grabs more than ever before, and it's made for some good-natured competition within the team.

"We're having some knock-down, drag-out practices right now," he said. "We're playing good defense, and that's the key. That's our bread and butter."

Senior guard Janay Moore chipped in 10 points in the win over Lakeside, while Kaila Hunt added eight points.

Lakeside's Alex Cassagnol led the Lady Panthers with 11 points.

Evans boys 68, Burke County 63

Lakeside's upset over Greenbrier might have been the top game in Columbia County, but the best game in the Augusta area took place in Waynesboro, where Evans knocked off Burke County, considered one of the best boys basketball squads around.

"I don't know if it was a statement game for us or not, but I do think some people in the public sometimes overlook us," Evans boys basketball coach Kevin Kenny said.

"I guess to be the best you've got to beat the best."

Evans trailed 37-23 at halftime and by as much as 15 points in the second half, but it didn't deter the Knights.

"We got down by 15, but we just kept chipping away," Kenny said. "We limited them to one shot when we were on defense, and we just went straight at them. They've got size -- some big muscular kids all the way across the board, but we know we've got some pretty good players, too."

Senior Deronte Williams led all scoring with 29 points, while Jonathan Nicely added 17. Junior Brandon McCladdie kept Devonde Lewis, Burke County's top scorer, to 20 points on the night.

"McCladdie did a great job on defense," Kenny said. "We put him on Lewis, and he locked him down in the second half."

Evans' win over Burke County, coupled with another come-from-behind win over Cross Creek on Friday, improved the Knights to 7-2 entering Tuesday's home game against Aquinas.

Augusta Prep girls 35, Tattnall Square 25

Augusta Prep senior Laura Kopald made school history over the weekend in a 10-point win at Tattnall Square.

Kopald's 27-point performance in the win gave her 1,000 career points.

The senior forward is the first girl in the history of Augusta Prep basketball to reach the scoring milestone. Kopald scored a total of 42 points in a win and a loss during the weekend.

Augusta Prep boys 60, Mt. de Sales 56

The Cavaliers split a pair of games in a weekend road trip to Macon. Augusta Prep knocked off Mt. de Sales by four points Friday night but lost to Tattnall Square 67-41 on Saturday.

Junior Jim Hull scored 29 and 24 respectively in the two games as the Cavaliers moved to 7-4 on the season.

Augusta Christian boys 80, Alleluia 68

The highest scoring offense in the county continued its winning ways over the weekend as the Lions put up 80 points.

Four different Augusta Christian players hit double figures on the night, including Daniel Hobbs (16), Tyler Bourdo (14), Evans Wells (13) and Zach Cooper (11).

The Lions remained undefeated with a 3-0 record heading into Tuesday's game against Fox Creek.

Augusta Christian girls 59, Alleluia 28

The Lady Lions bounced back into the win column after last Tuesday's loss at Augusta Prep with a 31-point win.

Amaura Brandt led the way for Augusta Christian with 17 points on the night, while Annie Clifton (12) and Elizabeth Alewine (10) also hit double figures for the Lady Lions.

Harlem boys 64, Oglethorpe County 41

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 20-10 lead after the first quarter and never looked back in a blowout win over Oglethorpe County.

Harlem's Cendric Boatner led the way again with a 26-point performance, while Fasion Gaines and Mike Leverett each added eight points.

The Bulldogs evened their record to 3-3 entering Tuesday's game against Lakeside.

Strom Thurmond boys 66, Greenbrier 51

One bad quarter wiped away three good ones in Greenbrier's 15-point loss.

The Wolfpack outscored Strom Thurmond 48-43 in the in the final three quarters, but Strom Thurmond led 23-3 after the first quarter. That was enough to hand Greenbrier its third loss in a row.