Lady Chargers Cruise Past Andrew College
Coming off hard-fought games against conference rival South Georgia Tech the previous week, the 20th-ranked Lady Chargers were hoping for an easier game against the short-handed Andrew College Lady Tigers.
GHC, sparked by the 3-point shooting of Sasha Shishkina, stormed out of the gate to a 28-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Andrew College made a small run in the 2nd to cut the lead to 13 but would get no closer the rest of the way. Highlands led 43-26 at the half and another surge in the 3rd quarter pushed the lead to 30, which is where it stayed through the fourth quarter, with GHC winning comfortably 93-63.
The Chargers were led by the 2-time reigning GCAA Player-of-the-Week Jashanti Simmons with 22 points. Rasheka Simmons, coming off the bench, had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Crystal Corely chipped in 16 points off the bench, while Sasha Shishkina finished the game with 14 points to round out the double-digit scorers for GHC.
The team remains in first-place in the GCAA with a great chance to host the GCAA conference tournament in a couple weeks. They hit the road for two more games against Andrew College this Friday and Saturday, then return to the Corral in Rome to take on Central Georgia Technical College on Tuesday, March 16 at 4:00PM.
Jashanti Simmons
Chargers Survive OT Scare from Gordon State College
A slow start put the 19th-ranked Chargers behind by 6 points early to the visiting Gordon State College Highlanders but some hot shooting by Keandre Bowles helped the Chargers cut the Highlanders lead to one at the halfway point of the first half. Gordon State kept up the pressure and continued to hold the lead until monster dunks by Langston Wilson and Jarred Rosser brought life to the Chargers who grabbed their first lead (30-28) with about 4 minutes to go in the half. Unfortunately, they could not build on that momentum and lead by only a single point at the half, 40-39.
GHC started the 2nd half strong and built the lead to 8 less than 3 minutes in. Five more quick points by Wilson pushed the lead to 13 at the 15-minute mark. Gordon State fought back to cut the lead to 6 with 11 minutes left in the game. A few possessions later, GHC had pushed the lead back to double-digits but it wouldn’t stay there. With just under 3 minutes remaining in the game, Gordon State trailed by only 3. Sloppy play by GHC led to fouls and GSC hit their free throws to cut the Chargers’ lead to 1 with under 2 minutes remaining. Two free throws by Bowles put the Chargers up 3 with 14 seconds remaining but a 3 by GSC with 6 seconds left sent the game to overtime.
Chris Wright and Keandre Bowles scored the first 8 points of the extra period to push GHC ahead 95-87. In spite of a questionable technical foul on GHC head coach J.J. Merritt giving Gordon State a small spark allowing them to score the next 4, brothers Jarred and Jarrel Rosser combined to hit 5 free throws to seal the 102-97 victory.
Keandre Bowles led seven Chargers in double-figures with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Jarrel and Jarred Rosser had 14 and 10 points, respectively. Langston Wilson (13), Joel Pullen (12), Chris Wright (11), and Dominic Ham (10) rounded out the double-digit scoring for GHC. The Chargers get a week off before returning to action at home against East Georgia State College on Marc 16. Tip is scheduled for 6:00PM.
Keandre Bowles