Thomasville's Reggie Perry brings the ball inside the arc with Thomas County Central's Dee Daniels guarding him Saturday night.

THOMASVILLE — Thomasville and Thomas County Central’s girls basketball teams met for their second game of the year, and the rematch did not disappoint in the slightest. 

Down by 11 early in the second quarter, the Bulldogs worked their way back in the second half, even taking the lead at one point, but the Yellow Jackets held on to avenge a loss to their crosstown rival earlier in the season, taking a 53-48 win Saturday night.

Later on, Thomasville’s boys claimed their second victory over Central of the season, pulling away late for a decisive 72-57 win.

After both girls teams traded 3s from Central’s Jade Guyton and Thomasville’s Sherriona Jackson to start the first, the Yellow Jackets began to move ahead, taking an 11-4 lead midway through the opening quarter before the Bulldogs cut into the deficit, leaving a 16-10 Central lead headed into the next period.

After Central went on a run to take a 21-10 lead, the Bulldogs’ Sherriona Jackson and Jayah McCoggle helped their team jump right back in with two 3s in the second quarter, and Central held a more slim 26-24 lead at halftime.

Thomasville’s Zoey Jackson joined in to keep the deficit at two with a 3 at the start of the third, and the Bulldogs took their only lead of the game at 33-32 midway through the quarter with a 3 from Tre’Oncia Andrews. However, Central quickly regained control, taking the lead back headed into the fourth at 39-37.

Jade Guyton moved Central to a more manageable 42-38 advantage with a 3 to start the last period, but McCoggle added her second 3 of the game to keep her team close down 3. 

Up 46-41, Central seemingly had the game almost won late if it could limit mistakes, but Thomasville was not done. With 3 minutes left in regulation, Jackson made a heads-up steal on Central’s Ilyria Johns while she held the ball in the air looking for an open teammate. She scored on the play to narrow the Yellow Jacket lead to 3, and the momentum shifted heavily toward the home team. 

Thomasville rode the excitement of that play to get to within two points of tying the game with 1:34 left, but Janiah Ellis made some key free throws in the final minute to ice the game for Central.

Jackson led the Bulldogs with 16 points on the night. Ellis and Guyton were key players in Central’s victory with 11 and 20 points, respectively.

The boys game started just as close as the previous meeting. After Thomasville’s Jordan Powell scored on a leaping lay-in to give his team a 15-7 lead, Central’s Jamie Palmer hit a 3 to narrow the score to 16-10 with 2:45 left in the first. BJ Jones followed his teammate up with a 3 of his own, as the Yellow Jackets kept pace with the Bulldogs down 18-15 going into the second.

Thomasville responded with a 9-0 run to start the second, with a Reggie Perry dunk capping it off for a 27-18 lead. Still, Central kept fighting, just as it had in the first half of the last meeting, and were down 39-30 going into the locker room.

However, just like the last meeting, the upset bid was short lived, as Thomasville jumped further ahead with a 48-36 advantage heading into the fourth. Jones connected on back-to-back 3s in the last quarter of regulation, but it was not nearly enough to get the Yellow Jackets back to within striking distance.

Perry led the Bulldogs once again with 23 points, followed by Luke Wallace with 13. Jones scored 19 for Central with Dee Daniels following close with 11.