GW nearly doubles Northwood’s score

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

If there were any doubts about which team would win after the first quarter, they were dashed by halftime. The George Wythe Maroons led by 22 points at the half and then coasted to a 101-51 victory over the Northwood Panthers in a Hogoheegee District boys’ basketball game played Friday night at GWHS.
The only real drama of the night was a thundering dunk by GW senior Tennis Simon. And then there was some suspense for the home crowd as it wondered if the Maroons would break the century mark.
It took a long last-second shot by Waleed Ershad to put GW over the 100-point mark.
Ershad was one of five Maroons in double figures with 10 points. Devin Smith led GW in scoring with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Simon and Drew Lester scored 13 apiece. Joining Ershad with 10 points was Tristan Boysaw.
Lester led the team in rebounds with six. Boysaw finished with five rebounds and also had seven steals and five assists. All 14 players on the GW roster scored.
Northwood was led by Jeremy Frye with 10 points.
George Wythe Head Coach Al Copenhaver said “the kids played real hard. I couldn’t be more pleased with their effort.”
The coach said one of the deciding factors in the game was the significant amount of turnovers his team caused the Panthers to commit.
George Wythe improves to 3-0 in the district and 7-2 overall. Northwood drops to 1-3 in the district and 6-10 overall.
Smith was one of the early pace setters for GW by sinking all four of his three-pointers in the first quarter. He and the other Maroon starters saw limited action after the first quarter.
GW led 31-12 at the end of the first eight minutes and took a 50-28 lead at halftime.
The Maroons grabbed their first 25-point lead of the game early in the second quarter when Simon made a steal and then jubilantly slammed the ball through the goal amid the hoops and hollers from the Maroon faithful. Simon was called for a technical, apparently due to hanging from the rim a little too long, but it failed to slow GW down.
The only other drama was when Ershad picked up a loose ball near the three-point line and fired up a shot at the final buzzer to give GW 101 points.
George Wythe is slated to be home tonight against Patrick Henry. GW is set to travel to Rural Retreat on Friday.

Northwood 12 16 8 17 – 51
George Wythe 31 19 26 25 – 101

Northwood – Jeremiah Thompson 0 2-5 2, Shark Delp (one 3-pointer) 1 0-0 5, Zach Roberts 3 1-2 7, Jeremy Frye 5 0-0 10, StevenEarly Spence 2 2-5 6, Chris Robinson (one 3-pointer) 2 2-2 9, Dalton Combs (one 3-pointer) 2 0-0 7, Steven Jordan 0 5-5 5.

George Wythe – Ethan Mills 1 0-0 2, Willie Grubb 1 0-0 2, Brandon Davis (one 3-pointer) 2 2-3 9, Waleed Ershad (one 3-pointer) 3 1-2 10, Brett Grimes 2 2-2 6, Devin Smith (four 3-pointers) 3 1-2 19, Robert Yonce 1 0-0 2, Kenneth Waugh 2 0-0 4, Tristan Boysaw 3 4-4 10, Keith Edwards 1 0-0 2, Tennis Simon (one 3-pointer) 5 0-0 13, Daniel Meade 2 0-0 4, Will Sawyers 2 1-2 5, Drew Lester 4 5-6 13.
(T – 1:20)
J.V. game: GW 58, Northwood 50
George Wythe – Robert Herndon 2 6-8 10, Nathan Cline 0 4-4 4, Tyler Atwood 2 2-4 6, Timmy Goins 3 3-3 9, Brandon Atwell 1 2-2 4, Stephen Scott 1 2-2 4, Woody Wilder (two 3-pointers) 2 0-0 10, Aaron Wheeler 4 1-4 9, Gabe Diyorio 1 0-0 2.