Rough Week For VHS Indians

The Vidalia High School basketball teams took on East Laurens and Woodville-Tompkins last week. The girls lost both of their games while the boys split their contests.

Girls vs. E. Laurens

The Lady Indians struggled to get their offense going as they were on the road at East Laurens on Tuesday of last week. The Lady Falcons pulled ahead early to a 9-3 lead and never looked back. VHS got a basket by Carleigh Wardlaw in the second period to make it 11-7, but at the end of the first half it was 13-7.

VHS closed it to 13-9 early in the third, but the Falcons pushed their lead to 20-11 with just under four minutes to go in the period. Two threepointers put East Laurens up 28-11 at the end of the third. East Laurens led 34-15 in the fourth period and took the win 34-19 over VHS.

Boys vs. E. Laurens

Vidalia took the early 4-0 lead over the Falcons. Ty Dalley made it 6-0 and then it was 9-0 after a three by Ira Clements. With 2:45 left in the first it was 11-2. Clements hit another three and it was 17-4 with just over a minute to play in the first period. At the buzzer VHS was up 20-4. With 4:40 left in the first half the score was 26-8. Bryson Whited added a three-pointer for a 29-12 lead. At the end of the first half the score was 31-13 with the Indians well out in front.

With four minutes to go in the third the score was 39-18 and at the end of the the third it was 49- 21. VHS went on to win the contest, 63-49.

Girls vs. Woodville

On Friday at home VHS hosted the Wolverines of Woodville-Tompkins. With 3:45 left in the first period of the girls game VHS trailed 13-5. Kyleigh Johnson got a shot to fall, but it was 18-9 Woodville by the end of the first.

In the second VHS kept pace with Woodville leading 23-15, but then the Wolverines went on a run to lead 32-15 with three minutes left in the half. VHS got baskets by Johnson and Jaynia Bobbitt but were down 34-20 at halftime.

Woodville remained in control of the game, and at the end of the third they were up 49-28 with Chineye Edwards and Cristal Franklin getting late baskets for VHS.

Woodville took the win over VHS 65-39. The Indians were led by Franklin with 8 points.

Boys vs. Woodville

It was a battle throughout, but the Wolverines came out on top of VHS. Early in the first Matt Hill hit a threepointer for a 5-0 lead just over a minute into the game. Clements pushed the lead to 7-2, but the Wolverines hit a three to close that to 7-5. Woodville came back and tied the game at 7-7, but a three-point play by Dalley gave VHS the lead back at 10-7. Clements made it 13-7, but Woodville closed it to 13-11 with three minutes left in the first period. Dalley made it 16-12 with 45 seconds on the clock with a floater in the lane, and at the end of the first, it was 17-14 with VHS hanging on to a small lead. Hill and Kaylan Johnson pushed the VHS lead to 21-14 early in the second. Whited made it 25-16 with 5:50 left in the half. With 2:40 left in the half, it was a 29-22. Woodville closed the lead to 29-26 with two minutes left, and it was 31-30 with one minute on the clock.

With just 12 seconds to play in the first half the Wolverines took their first lead of the game at 32-31 and at the buzzer were on top 35-31.

In the second half of the game it was 36-33 after a basket by Konner Owens, and Hill added a shot later in the period as VHS trailed 41-35 and the Wolverines were pulling away. At the end of the third period, the score was 45-37 with the Indians down by 8.

In the fourth Clements and Dalley got shots to fall, but Woodville kept answering and pushed their lead to 59-45 with just a few minutes to play in the game. With 2:46 left it was 59-47, and then Clements made it 63-53 with one minute to play in the game.

Woodville held on to take the win 65-55 over the Indians. VHS was led by Dalley with 18 points, Clements added 12, Hill scored 11. The big story was that Woodville shot 38 free throws while the Indians shot just 14 in the game.

Since that game the Indians basketball programs have had to shut down and quarantine due to COVID. They have cancelled all games prior to Christmas. They are still planning on playing the Annual Paul Thigpen Christmas Classic that will begin on December 28.