The Bainbridge seventh grade basketball teams played their final games of the season Tuesday night at the Thomas County Central Middle School gym. The Bearcats emerged victorious 37-18, but the Lady Cats lost in a 13-12 heartbreaker.

“These young ladies did a very good job of playing defense and breaking Thomas County’s press,” Lady Cats coach Dorothy Pierce said. “In the fourth quarter, the Lady Cats simple stopped executing their offense. I think they were overly anxious about winning and lost focus.”

Zycheria Russ led the Lady Cats with six points. For the Lady Jackets, Janiah Ellis led the team with nine points. Last week, Ellis was able to put up 21 points against the Lady Cats.

“After practice and walking them through their errors, they were able to hold her to nine points,” Pierce said.

Pierce plans to have many of the seventh grade Lady Cats play alongside the eighth grade Lady Cats to help them strengthen their skills. She said even though the season had ended, if she can continue to stress the importance of commitment to the game, the team will continue to develop and grow.

The seventh grade Bearcats took the court by storm against the Yellow Jackets and brought their season to a close with a 6-1 record.

“The players have really accepted their roles on the team,” Clark said. “I cannot express the sincere pleasure it has been witnessing such fine young boys play their hearts out each every week knowing that winning is our ultimate goal.

Top scorers for the night were Timothy Allison and Tony worlds with eight points apiece. Bryce Jones was behind them with six points and Kenya Hughes was able to score four points for the Bearcats.

“The offense was executed nicely and the defense pressured the ball for numerous turnovers,” Clark said.

The eighth grade Bearcats traveled to Marianna, Fla., to play Marianna Middle School and crossed back into Georgia with a 58-45 loss behind them.

Both teams came out flat and entered the locker room at halftime with a 25-13 score, the Bulldogs in the lead. Bearcats coach Heith Maxwell gave the Bearcats a spirited halftime talk and sent his players back out to score 19 points in the third quarter.

The Bearcats were within three points with two-and-a-half minutes left in the game and fought hard to raise the score. But two costly turnovers game Marianna the momentum to secure the lead and the win.

“They were an athletic team and had two big posts that were good scorers,” Maxwell said. “If we would have played the first half with the same intensity as the second, we would have won.”

Top scorers for the eighth grade Bearcats was Desmond Thomas with 13 points, followed by David Smart with 10 points. Kendal Lodman and Dameon Pierce both had eight points for the evening.