Griffin High's Marquavious King (14) tries to save a ball from going out of bounds during the home opener Nov. 27 at The House against Woodland-Stockbridge.
The Bears executed down the stretch and hit some big shots in the final minutes to edge out the Stockbridge High Tigers 69-67 in Region 4-AAAA crossover action on the road.
Griffin (Division B) improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in region play while Div. A Stockbridge falls to 1-4, 0-2.
The homestanding Tigers raced to a 17-11 lead after one quarter and then took a 27-17 lead over the Bears with 4:32 left until halftime thanks to a 3-pointer from Jared Brockman. The Tigers seemed to be on their way to stopping Griffin's streak, but the Bears had other ideas.
Griffin went on a 5-0 run, capped by a layup from Rayshod Armstrong, to climb within 5 at 27-22 and seize the momentum. A trey at the buzzer from Griffin's Anforne' Stroud tied the game at 32-all at halftime.
The third quarter was nip-and-tuck all the way and Griffin ended the quarter on a 3-point play from senior Kelvin "Yao" Waldon to take a 49-46 lead into the fourth quarter. The final stanza was pure action for eight minutes, as both teams combined for 4 ties and took turns making big shots.
Griffin took a 58-56 lead on a layup by senior J.R. Ellis, but Ryan Sims had a rebound layup to tie the game at 58. After a jumper by Griffin senior Tae Mayes gave the Bears the lead at 60-58, Johnathan Flowers of Stockbridge converted a steal and layup to tie the game at 60. Waldon then sank a deep trey and made a layup to give Griffin its biggest lead of the game at 65-60 with one minute remaining. Stockbridge was unfazed, getting a trey from Brockman and a jumper from Jesse Murray to tie the game at 65-all with 39 seconds left.
After Mayes made a nice driving layup in traffic to give Griffin the lead again at 67-65, the Bears made a defensive stop and had the chance to salt the game away with 20 seconds left. But Ellis missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation and Brockman drove the length of the court to try and tie the game. Waldon hustled to block Brockman's layup attempt and Griffin's Jaquez Parks fell on the ball and was fouled. Parks nailed two free throws to give the Bears the 69-65 lead with 5.5 seconds left and seal the game. Brockman's layup at the buzzer made the final score 69-67.
"I was running with Stockbridge's player as he tried for the tying layup and my only thought was to stop him," said the 6-foot-3 Waldon. "I had to get to it quick and I got the block. I'm just glad I didn't foul him."
Mayes led all scorers with 21 points (including 5 treys) while Waldon added 14 for Griffin. Stroud added 9 points and Ellis chipped in 8 for Griffin, which hosts Div. A foe Dutchtown Friday at 7:30 p.m. Brockman led Stockbridge with 19 points, Adrian Windley scored 18 and Murray chipped in 9 for the Tigers.
GRIFFIN HIGH BOYS
Date| Opponent |Time
11/19 |vs. Lowndes |W 74-58
11/20 |vs. Valdosta |W 71-67
11/27 |WOODLAND* |W 50-22
12/4 |Stockbridge* |W 69-67
12/7 |DUTCHTOWN* |7:30
12/8 |HENRY CO. |6:30
12/11 |L. GROVE* |7:30
12/14 |E. Landing* |7:30
12/15 |LAMAR |6:30
12/18 |Lamar |7:30
12/21 |Lamar Tour. |TBA
12/22 |Lamar Tour. |TBA
1/4 |Jonesboro* |7:30
1/5 |Dutchtown |5:30
1/8 |Upson-Lee* |7:30
1/11 |SPALDING* |8:30
1/15 |Riverdale* |7:30
1/18 |N. Clayton* |7:30
1/19 |NORTHSIDE-WR |6:30
1/22 |JONESBORO* |7:30
1/25 |UPSON-LEE* |7:30
1/26 |Spalding* |7:30
2/1 |RIVERDALE* | 7:30
2/5 |N. CLAYTON* |7:30
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