Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Heritage guard Cooper Terry (4) lays the ball up during the Generals’ home basketball game against Central-Carrollton on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 in Ringgold, Georgia. Heritage would win the game 54-53.A strong start in league play got even stronger Tuesday night for Heritage.
The Generals scored the game’s final seven points to rally past Central-Carroll, 54-53, to improve to 5-0 in Region 7-AAAA. Cooper Terry’s two free throws with 1.2 seconds to play completed the comeback from down six with 1:01 remaining.
“It was an ugly and somewhat lucky win tonight,” said Heritage coach Kevin Terry, who has taken the Generals to six consecutive playoff appearances. “The main thing for us this year was finally getting guys healthy. We are senior laden and have some balanced talent, but we have just been trying to put the pieces together and figure it out.”
Cooper Terry scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter, including going three-of-three from 3-point range, as Heritage built a 29-21 halftime lead. The advantage was five with just under four minutes left in the third quarter when the Lions (6-5, 0-2) turned the game around by going to a trapping defense that forced four quick turnovers.
Still down five, though, after Mitchell Kennedy’s layup with 6:15 remaining, Central turned up the heat even further to spark a 9-0 run over the next three minutes, capped by Jacobi Almon’s 3-pointer. The Generals’ comeback started with Ty Loveless’ three-point play on a putback, before Caden Swope made a steal that led to a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left.