The final Friday of regular season high school basketball action at the Darton State College Cavalier Arena was full of comebacks, as well as one blowout.
In the first game of the day, the Westover Lady Patriots overcame an early deficit to defeat the Dougherty Lady Trojans, 64-55, behind a game-high 23 points from senior guard Achanti Layfield, and 15 more from Mykesa Smith.
The Lady Patriots trailed 12-6 late in the first quarter, only to rally in the second quarter for a 28-22 halftime lead. The Westover girls built that advantage to as much as 16 points late in the third quarter on the way to victory.
The second game of the night was no contest, as the Monroe Lady Tornadoes cruised to an easy 51-29 win over Albany High.
The Monroe girls took a commanding 37-8 lead at halftime, and extended it to 46-15 by the end of the third quarter, before turning things over to the bench in the fourth quarter en route to the easy win.
Keshundra “Key Key” Price led all scorers with a game-high 19 points to improve the Monroe girls to 13-0 in GHSA Region 1-AAAA, with one game to play, against Worth County at home Saturday night.
The boys games provided the most drama of the night, with the Westover Patriots rallying from a 20-6 deficit to defeat the Dougherty Trojans, 73-59, while the Albany High Indians overcame a 17-8 deficit to down the Tornadoes, 69-63.
C.J. Davis led the Patriots with 15 points, while fellow teammates Timothy White and Jordan Floyd each finished with 13 points apiece.
As for the Trojans, they lost despite a game-high 19 points from Shunwaski Wheeler, as well as 12 more from David Quimby.
In the nightcap, while Tyler Cheese scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Indians to victory, he had a solid supporting cast that chipped in, as Desmond Newberry finished with 20 points, while Malik Dungee-Ali added another 14 points.