THOMASVILLE — After an uncharacteristic performance in a close win over Albany, Thomasville’s boys basketball team was looking to rebound in the Region 1-2A championship game.

While the Bulldogs played better than they did against the Indians, it was not enough to secure their second straight region title, as they took a 74-65 loss to Early County on Friday night.

Thomasville, which will now enter the state playoffs as a No. 2 seed, will play the No. 3 team from Region 3 next weekend.

The visiting Bobcats stayed ahead of the Bulldogs for the vast majority of the game, after Thomasville briefly carried the lead in the middle of the first. In the fourth, however, the Bulldogs began to knock at the door, threatening to steal a late comeback win.

After a 14-4 run, Thomasville briefly grabbed the lead back. Aided by a crucial 3 pointer from Luke Wallace and capped off by a score from Reggie Perry, the run resulted in a 65-64 Bulldog lead with two minutes left in the game. Perry came up again with what seemed to be a momentum-shifting block with 1:23 left, but the Bobcats regained control of the game as the clock ticked down to zero, taking advantage of some errant Bulldog passes and some made free throws to end Thomasville’s reign as the region champion.

Early County started with a 5-0 lead in the first, but Thomasville’s Quindarius Thomas put his team on the board for the first time with a 3. After the Bulldogs briefly took an 8-7 lead, the Bobcats retook it with a 16-11 advantage at the end of the first. 

Thomas connected on three more shots from behind the arc during a back-and-forth second to help keep the Bulldogs within two points, with a 38-36 score at halftime. Thomas finished with five 3s for the game.

With an 8-0 run, the Bobcats extended their lead to 46-36 with 5:45 left in the third, and led by seven headed into the tightly-contested fourth.

Perry rebounded from a rough game against Albany, leading Thomasville with 20 points against Early. Woolbright and Thomas added 15 points each.