The boys teams for Lakeside and Greenbrier recorded blowout victories in the final two games of Wednesday’s session of the Danny Black Holiday Classic at Greenbrier. Lakeside started the Columbia County sweep with an 82-62 win over South Aiken, and Greenbrier finished the job with an 84-50 victory over Aquinas.
Jayden Lyons (17 points), Zay Howard (16), Bryce Reynierson (15) and Mike Mills (12) scored in double figures for Lakeside, who took a 40-29 halftime lead and held off South Aiken’s only attempt at a comeback when Terrence Smith scored a layup for the Thoroughbreds to cut Lakeside’s lead to 43-37 with 5:38 left in the third quarter.
Lakeside was quick to answer when Mills fed Howard in the paint for a layup that put the Panthers ahead 45-37 with 5:22 left in the period. Only 10 seconds ticked away before Howard returned the favor by assisting Mills for a three pointer in transition that gave Lakeside a 48-37 advantage. And before the clock read 5:00 Howard had snagged an athletic defensive rebound, pushed the ball ahead with the dribble and fed a streaking Mills again for a layup in transition to put the Panthers ahead 50-37.
In the final five minutes of the third period, when Lakeside built a 59-44 lead, Howard blocked a shot and dished two more assists, one to Michael Youngblood, who scored 6 points off the bench, and another to Jayden Lyons, who won player of the game honors for the Panthers.
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KJ Jenkins of South Aiken led all scorers with 23 points and teammate Tyreke Williams, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, added 15. Before spending a considerable amount of time on the bench, Williams made his presence felt on the glass and above the rim, including an impressive finish with two hands on an alley oop pass in the first half.
Lakeside threatened to run away from the Thoroughbreds before halftime by building a lead as large as 14 points towards the end of the second quarter when Lyons fed Howard for a dunk in transition with 8 seconds remaining. But the Thoroughbreds answered when Tyler Nipper buried a three pointer from the volleyball line right before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 40-29.
Dating back to the opening tip-off, Lakeside allowed South Aiken no positive momentum. When the Thoroughbreds took a 4-0 lead, their only lead of the game, the Panthers answered with a 15-0 run that started with made three pointers by Mikeal Grissom, Lyons and Mills, and ended with a tip dunk by Howard that gave the Panthers a 15-4 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
In the final game of the day, Greenbrier defended its home court with a convincing 84-50 victory over Aquinas. The Wolfpack was led by Jackson Jennings (23 points), Cam Parada (14) and Malachi Bias (13). The trio combined to make 10 three pointers, including 7 during the third quarter when the Wolfpack turned what had been a competitive game into a rout by out-scoring the Fightin’ Irish 31-12 in the period to build a 72-40 lead with 8 minutes remaining.
Jennings started the second half with a roar by recording two three pointers, two steals and an assist to Parada on the first five possessions of the third quarter. On the sixth possession, Jennings gathered a defensive rebound, and on the seventh Parada nailed a three pointer to give the Wolfpack a 52-28 advantage.
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The 11-0 run to start the third came on the heels of a 16-2 run by Greenbrier that gave the Wolfpack a 41-28 halftime lead. Jennings started that spurt too by making a three pointer and a layup through contact, and Parada finished the run with a heavily contested, quick release three pointer with 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The reason Greenbrier didn’t pull away from Aquinas sooner was the hot shooting of Fightin’ Irish senior Tahj Vines, who scored 17 points in the first 10 minutes of the game to help erase a 20-10 first quarter lead for Greenbrier. When Vines made his fifth three pointer with 5:30 left in the second quarter Aquinas took a brief 26-25 lead.
Thursday’s Danny Black Holiday Classic Schedule
Thursday, December 22
10:00 A.M. – Lee County vs No. 8 Cross Creek – girls
11:30 A.M. – Lakeside vs Aquinas – boys
1:00 – No. 3 Josey vs No. 9 Greenbrier – girls
2:30 – South Aiken vs Greenbrier – boys
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook, and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports
