CALHOUN, Ga. -- Age may have taken some of the steam out of Jerry Jones' sideline theatrics, but the man's will to win basketball games hasn't lessened one bit.
The Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe boys' coach will prowl the bench at least one more night after the Warriors rallied for a 56-51 win over Murray County at the Region 6-AAA tournament Tuesday.
LFO, down eight and with its all-region player, Tanner Bennett, sidelined with a first-half knee injury, rode the sudden hot hand of Ryan Keefe and a defensive switch to hand Jones his 594th career win. Keefe scored 23 points.
"We told them we had to take the ball to the hole in the second half, which usually opens things up for Tanner, but he wasn't out there with the injury," said Jones, whose team will face North Murray in Thursday's quarterfinal round. "But Keefe really took up the slack. It was a great time for his career high."
The game was tied at 30 in the third period when the Indians used six quick points from Tucker Humble -- a 3-pointer and a three-point play -- and Andrew Winters' layup to build the game's largest lead. Jones, needing to flip momentum, went to a zone trap defense in the final period that led to seven Murray turnovers and sparked the LFO turnaround.
"The zone trap gave us a boost," he said. "They hadn't seen it all night, and it kind of threw them off. We just stuffed them on field goals late and made just enough of our own. Hopefully this game will get us out of sleep-walking and we can play some real basketball Thursday. Win one more and we're back in the state."
Two Justin Bolton free throws capped a 10-4 run to start the final period, tying the game at 42 with 5:03 to play, but another Humble 3-pointer and two Hunter Ary free throws gave the Indians a five-point advantage. Keefe hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game to get LFO within two, and freshman Zach Thompson tied it with a layup before Bolton made two more free throws to give the Warriors the lead for good.
LFO won despite missing five free throws in the final two minutes, but the aggressive defense remained stout. The game was secured when Humble, who led Murray with 20 points, missed a tying 3-point attempt with six seconds to play.
The LFO girls also remained alive with a 49-42 win over Gordon Central behind Abby Mabry's 19 points. Dewayne Watkins' team will face North Murray on Thursday in the quarterfinals after clearing Tuesday's hurdle against a team the coach was concerned about.
"They played us really close in our last matchup, and I felt this was the toughest matchup of the teams we could have faced tonight," Watkins said. "We got off to a good start, and when they started to make a run Abbi just took over. She's really taken to doing that when teams pressure us."
A Megan Campbell 3-pointer to start the final period got Gordon Central within four, 37-33, but Mabry came right back moments later with a three-point play. When the lead was again four, she did it again on a strong drive and finish with 1:57 to play.
Also winning Tuesday on the girls' side was Murray County, which pulled off a 44-38 upset of Gordon Central behind Ashley Strong's 22 points. The Lady Indians will face Sonoraville on Thursday. Sonoraville's boys won Tuesday's late game 34-30 over Gordon Central and will face Coahulla Creek on Thursday.
The top-seeded teams on each side, the Calhoun and Ringgold boys and girls, face Thursday's winners in Friday's semifinals.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.