The basketball season may have just started but it is never too early for old rivals to face off.
Fayette County hosted McIntosh Tuesday night and won both the girls and boys game.

The Lady Tigers (3-1) won 51-28. They led 20-11 at halftime and, by the end of the third quarter, held a commanding 35-17 lead.

“I told the girls that we needed to come out and take control,” Fayette coach John Strickland said. “We wanted to come out and establish ourselves early on.”

Fayette was aggressive at both ends of the court, especially defensively; it didn’t let McIntosh break 20 points until Olivia Tucker nailed a 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Forwards Chasity Welch (15 points) and Sasha Sims (12) led Fayette offensively. Jasmine Facey added seven.

McIntosh (1-1) was led by Erin Justice and Laura Higgason, both of whom scored eight points.

The boys won 64-59. Fayette’s boys (3-1, 1-0 in Region 2-AAAA) led by as many as 14 against McIntosh, but the Chiefs fought all the way back and took a 52-50 lead on Robert Chubb’s layup that completed a 9-1 run to begin the fourth quarter with 4:46 remaining.

The Tigers recovered, outscoring McIntosh 14-7 the rest of the way to escape with the victory. During that stretch, Fayette sank nine free throws, with Noel Johnson, who had 10 points in the quarter, hitting five.

In the final 38.7 seconds, Johnson and Boykin carried Fayette, scoring three points apiece.
Johnson was the lone Tigers player to score in double figures with 42 points and 14 rebounds. Boykin was Fayette’s second-leading scorer with nine points.

Cameron Rich scored a team-high 20 points for McIntosh (0-2), which had two other players score in double figures, Patrick Michel (13 points) and Jeremy Lampkin (11).

Fayette County hosts Starr’s Mill on Saturday. McIntosh will host Banneker Friday and will play at Creekside tomorrow.

Starr’s Mill took on Banneker on Tuesday and split. The Lady Panthers (1-0) came from behind to win their season opener, 43-42. They were down 20-10 at the end of the first half and 35-23 at the end of the third quarter, before rallying for the victory. Starr’s Mill’s Alexis Shaffer scored a team-high 12 points and had seven rebounds. Marissa Ring scored nine points (all in the second half) and was 7 of 10 from the free throw line, and Marie Jubb and Chesley Savage both had eight for Starr’s Mill.

The Starr’s Mill boys (0-1) lost 65-49. Matt Sweat led the team in scoring with 12 points, while Justin Smith and Colin Elias each chipped in eight.

Northgate split their games with Creekside. The Lady Vikings (2-3) won 38-27 with Brianna Banks leading the team in scoring with 18 points. The boys (1-3) lost 51-37. Brannan Hopkins led the team with 16 points. Northgate will host Woodward Academy on Friday.

East Coweta got swept by Landmark Christian. The girls lost 55-28. Christina Ezell and Brittany Menefee led the Lady Indians (0-1) with six points a piece, while Diamond Hunnicutt and Tiffany Hall each had 14 points for Landmark (3-1). The boys (1-2) lost 69-68. Casey Rosser led the Indians with 15 points, while Rodney Elom and Khambrel Hugley-Brown each added 10. Landmark improved to 1-1 on the season.

East Coweta will play at Morrow on Tuesday and Landmark Christian will host Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy Friday.

Our Lady of Mercy split with St, Francis. The Lady Bobcats (0-1) lost in overtime 52-48. Kelly Tolcher led the team with 18 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Alexandria Miles had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Camille Thompson had 10 points and four assists.

The boys (1-0) came back from a 25-22 deficit at the half and got their first ever win against St. Francis, 66-55. Nnamdi Moh set a school record with 36 points, while Richie Obiora scored 10 points. The Bobcats were 6-of-7 from the foul line in the final three minutes of the game.

Our Lady of Mercy will host Whitewater Friday.