The Rockdale Bulldogs picked up a much needed win, not for region standings, but for confidence, Saturday afternoon at home, defeating rival Heritage 59-52.

Darryl Tucker led the Bulldogs with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, as Rockdale rallied after a poor first quarter to outscore the Patriots 24-11 in the second period.

Rashad Jones led all scorers with 21 points, but the Patriots saw their fourth quarter lead evaporate in the final minutes for just their third loss of the season.

Trailing 39-36 entering the fourth quarter, Heritage rallied to take a 41-40 lead on a pair of Jones free throws with under seven minutes left in the game. 

Jones’ shot gave the Patriots their last lead of the contest after leading by as many as 10 in the first half. After a missed shot by the Bulldogs, Rockdale recovered the offensive rebound and found Jalen Jordan open behind the 3-point line. Jordan nailed the shot and consecutive baskets from Julian McKnight helped Rockdale build a 53-46 lead with just over two minutes to go in the game.

Heritage built a 10-point first half lead, holding Rockdale to just four points in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs rebounded from their slow start in the second quarter, outscoring Heritage 24-11.

The Patriots pushed their lead to 16-6 with 6:30 left in the contest on back-to-back Jones’ 3-pointers, but Rockdale dominated the final four minutes of play, outscoring Heritage 14-0 before the half. Tucker added six points to his total in the second period and Connor Ferrell gave Rockdale its first lead of the night on a layup and three-point play, sending Rockdale into halftime with a 28-21 advantage.

In the third, Heritage went on an 8-0 run, tying the game at 31-31, but the Bulldogs outscored Heritage 8-5 to close the period.

Ferrell joined Tucker in double figures with 16 points, including 11 in the second half, while Jordan finished with 11 points and four assists.

Terrell Rainey and Isaiah Banks finished with eight points each for Heritage. Rainey also finished with a team-high 12 rebounds.

Lady Bulldogs win

The Lady Bulldogs coasted to a 60-24 victory over the Lady Patriots Saturday, limited Heritage to seven or fewer points in each quarter.

Rockdale built up a 16-6 lead in the first half and never looked back, pouring it on with a 28-point third quarter to lead Heritage 55-19 heading into the final period of play.

While the Lady Patriots held Rockdale to just five points in the fourth, Heritage’s defensive effort came too little, too late as the Lady Bulldogs clinched their seventh win of the season.

Coming off its first victory of the season last week against Apalachee, the Lady Patriots trailed Rockdale 31-17 in the third quarter. Rockdale blew its lead wide in the period as Sydney Fields scored 14 points during a 21-0 Rockdale run that put the Lady Bulldogs ahead 52-17.

Heritage turned the ball over 12 times during the run and Rockdale extended its lead to 36 before the end of the quarter.

The Lady Patriots’ lone lead came on an Alexis Hawkins free throw in the first quarter that put Heritage up 3-2, but it was all Lady Bulldogs after that, as Heritage rushed out on a 14-0 rush in the opening period. Rockdale’s first-quarter run was ended on a Damali Thomas half-court buzzer-beater, sending Heritage down 16-6 at the break.

Fields finished with 19 points, leading all scorers, while Sojourner Hall finished with 13 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

Thomas and Destiny Martin led Heritage with five points each.

Salem splits

A balanced scoring attack helped the Lady Seminoles varsity basketball team to its 10th consecutive win Monday night, as Salem cruised to a 50-38 region victory on the road at Gainesville.

Ayanna Mitchell scored 14 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the Lady Seminoles ninth region victory of the year.

Jennifer Tindi finished just behind Mitchell with 11 points and nine boards, while Shay Tarver added nine points and had five assists in the win.

Salem shot 55 percent from the floor in the win, with four different players shooting 50 percent or better against the Lady Red Elephants.

The Salem boys’ basketball team dropped the Monday late game to Gainesville, falling 74-60.

The Seminoles have not won since Dec. 14 at Winder-Barrow, dropping their last eight contests.

The loss dropped Salem to 4-12 overall and 2-7 in region play.

Austin Samuel paced the Seminoles with 15 points, while Robert Baker added 14 in the loss.