Guard Play Makes the Difference on Opening Night

Two Columbia County guards caught our attention during Thursday's season openers.  Columbia Middle School's Elizabeth Metress and Stallings Island's Caitlin Cox both led their teams to victory with inspiring play, scoring in many ways and assisting teammates nicely.  We'll start with Metress and her Raiders squad.

Columbia Middle Raiders 35, Riverside Eagles 12

Metress led the Raiders early, scoring 7 of her team's 8 points in the opening quarter.  The highly skilled guard showed her ability to shoot from the perimeter, penetrate and score in the paint, and create scoring opportunities for teammates.  And those teammates are capable of knocking down shots, as you can see in the highlights below.  Riverside's Tya Oliver led the Eagles in the losing effort.

The Raiders will travel to Greenbrier Middle School tomorrow.  The Eagles will face Evans.

Stallings Island Redhawks 33, Grovetown Warriors 14

While Mettress led with skill and poise, the Redhawks Caitlin Cox used quick hands and feet to force numerous Grovetown turnovers.  But she also proved capable of drilling the perimeter shot, scoring off the dribble, and finding teammates for easy baskets.  Cox led the Redhawks with 10 points.  Andrea Ferbee played impressively, scoring 12 points for Grovetown in the losing effort.  Enjoy the action from the game in the video below.  

Stallings Island will travel to Harlem Friday, while Grovetown visits Lakeside.