From first tip, it was obvious: the 2014 edition of Thomasville’s Holiday Hoopfest left the best for last. 

Thomasville and Bainbridge were always set to meet up Monday night on day 3 of the event, but it turned out to be the championship game. Both teams were 2-0 through the first two days and had advantages over Berrien, also 2-0, by way of a higher point differential. 

And it was clear from the get-go, the Bulldogs were going to fight their hardest to have “Thomasville” back on the Hoopfest banner. 

It will be placed there soon with an electric 59-55 victory that came down to the final minute of play. 

With time ticking down, the Bulldogs fed Danisha Jones the ball and as she went for the shot down by a basket, she drew the foul. 

The shot went through, tying the game and throwing the crowd onto its feet. Her foul shot gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 54-53, since late in the third quarter.

Down on the baseline, though, Jones fouled Patra Parris, who scored 16 points and had gone 4-for-6 from the line up to that point. She and Jones, who fouled out on it, had gone against each other all night. 

Parris missed both the free throws, leaving the one-point game with 46 seconds to play. 

Richarsha Johnson upped the score with her own basket and foul shot to make it a four-point lead. She added one more foul shot to finish the night with 18 points, second only to Jones’ 22. 

Zoey Jackson, who had been all over the court all night intercepting passes, sealed the game by jumping in front of the Bearcats’ pass and sinking a foul to put the game out of reach with less than a second left. She finished with nine points. 

Thomasville got out to a good start with an 11-4 run that had Johnson and Jones split the scoring. Thomasville kept it going in the second with Parris on the bench after her second early foul in a game that looked like it would come down to who could keep the least amount of player from fouling out. 

The 27-23 lead Thomasville held at half evaporated midway through the third quarter. Bainbridge, behind 3-pointers from Alexis Russ and Alex Carter, came back to take their first lead since scoring the opening basket. 

Another 3 by Carter pushed it to 44-39 early in the fourth, the biggest lead Bainbridge held.

Carter finished with 11 points. Russ and Nadia Marshall both had nine. The Bearcats (Region 1-AAAA) play Saturday at Americus-Sumter. 

Thomasville has another meeting with Thomas County Central Saturday, this on its home court. The Bulldogs won, 55-25, on Dec. 6 on the Yellow Jackets court.