CAIRO — Thomas County Central girls basketball was in control for most of the first half, but outlasted a brief Cairo resurgence late, taking a 59-48 win on the road Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Central’s boys team took a loss, as the Syrupmakers avenged an early-season defeat to the Yellow Jackets with a 51-31 rout.

Tuesday’s win was the second for Central’s girls over Cairo this year. The Yellow Jackets move to 5-5 with the win.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes in the second half, but they kept it together,” Central girls coach Deatrice Hose said. “We’re still working on positive attitudes and unity. We had some moments when we were debbie-downers about fouls. We’ve got to shake it off because that’s part of the game.”

Central’s Jade Guyton was a big reason for her team’s second win over a big rival, starting the first two minutes of play with six points and two steals. With a 6-0 start, the Yellow Jackets worked to a 14-6 lead with Tia Brooks, Ilyria Johns and Kalauni Stewart joining in with scores for a 16-9 lead going into the second. Guyton finished her night with 24 points.

“I think she realizes her role as a senior,” Hose said. “She’s definitely stepping up in practice and in games. She’s motivating our younger players.”

Cairo briefly jumped back into things with Kevona Jones scoring 3 points at the beginning of the second for a 16-12 game, but Central soon regained control, leading to a 32-18 Yellow Jacket lead at halftime.

The Syrupmaids began to battle back just as they did in the previous meeting, starting with a 6-0 run in the third to cut the deficit to 12. After trailing 40-24, Cairo scored another 6 straight — all from Bernice Sloan — for a 40-30 Central lead headed into the final quarter.

Cairo’s Ny’Jah Greene and Aniyah Peters scored to get even closer at 44-39,  but that would be the closest the Syrupmaids would get to tying things up before Guyton and Janiah Ellis led Central to its fifth straight win.

Johns finished behind Guyton with 13 points. Cairo was led by Jones, who had 16.

The boys game was just as contested as the Dec. 9 meeting at the start, at least in the first two quarters. Locked in a low-scoring affair midway through the first, Central’s BJ Jones gave his team a 7-4 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.

Cairo quickly knotted things up at seven apiece headed into the second. The Syrupmakers took a 16-9 lead headed into halftime before separating themselves for good in the second half.

Cairo outscored Central 20-7 in the third, with Jahseari Patterson leading his team with eight points in the period. The Yellow Jackets never recovered, with the loss dropping them to 1-6 as they look to regroup headed into the Hoopfest tournament hosted by Thomasville next week. 

Cairo moved to 4-3, already an improvement over last year’s two-win campaign. The Syrupmakers will hope to carry their momentum into a tournament held in Baker County later this week.