By Chad W. Smith
The Dodge County Indians basketball team suffered three heartbreaking losses this past week. The Indians lost 54-48 to the eighth ranked Vidalia Indians on Tuesday, January 5; they lost 54-52 on last a second shot to the East Laurens Falcons on Friday January 8; they lost 49-45 to West Laurens on Saturday, January 9. The Indians are now 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the sub region.
Dodge trailed Vidalia in Tuesday’s game 13-4 after one quarter. Leonard Floyd scored all four points for the Indians in the quarter. Dodge outscored Vidalia 13-8 in the second quarter to pull within four at 21 -17 at the half. Floyd again led the Indians with four points in the second quarter. Vidalia outscored Dodge 17-13 in the third quarter to lead 38-30 over Dodge after three quarters. Floyd led the Indians with 10 points in the third quarter. Dodge pulled within two points with 51.2 left in the game on two consecutive three-pointers by Jordan Jones but could not tie the game and Vidalia scored four unanswered points to close out the game and take the win 54-48 over Dodge. Jones and Curtis Rushing each had six points to lead Dodge in the fourth quarter. Final scoring for Dodge against Vidalia was: Leonard Floyd, 22 points; Curtis Rushing, nine points; Jordan Jones, six points; Eric Bruemmer, three points; Austin Smith, two points; Greg Butler, two points; Justice Burch, two points; Herschel Anderson, one point; Rusty Selph, one point.
The Indians trailed East Laurens 11-10 after one quarter on Friday. Cyprin Burse and Leonard Floyd led Dodge with four points each in the quarter. The Falcons outscored Dodge 17-12 in the second to lead 28-22 at the half. Rusty Selph led the Indians four points in the second. The Indians trailed the Falcons 41-37 after three quarters. Austin Smith led Dodge with six points in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the game was tied five times with Dodge taking the lead each time after the game was tied except the final time at 52-52 with 56.4 left in the game. The Falcons scored the final two points with four seconds left to take the win from the Indians. Greg Butler led Dodge with six points in the final quarter. Final scoring for the Indians against East Laurens was: Leonard Floyd, 12 points; Greg Butler, 11 points; Tamius Lemon, seven points; Cyprin Burse, six points; Austin Smith, six points; Rusty Selph, four points; Herschel Anderson, two points; Eric Bruemmer, two points; Justice Burch, two points.
Dodge took at 15-12 lead over West Laurens after one quarter on Saturday. Rusty Selph led the Indians with six points in the quarter including a three pointer. The Raiders outscored Dodge 13-8 in the second quarter to take a 25-23 halftime lead. Leonard Floyd led the Indians with five points in the second. The Indians outscored the Raiders 10-5 in the third quarter to take 33-30 lead. Greg Butler led Dodge with four points in the quarter. The Indians were outscored 19-12 in the final quarter as the Raiders took the win 49-45. Selph led the Indians with four points in the final quarter. Final scoring for the Indians against West Laurens was: Rusty Selph, 12 points; Leonard Floyd, 11 points; Cyprin Burse, seven points; Greg Butler, seven points; Eric Bruemmer, three points; Tamius Lemon, two points; Marcus Brown, two points; Austin Smith, one point.
The Indians were scheduled to travel to Dublin on Tuesday, January 12 and return home to take on Toombs County on Friday, January 15 at 7:00 p.m. and Laney on Saturday, January 16 at 4:00 p.m. The Indians also travel to Bleckley County on Tuesday, January 19 at 6:00 p.m.
