By FRED GUARINO
The Lowndes Signal

The Central High School varsity boys Lions of Hayneville defeated the R.C. Hatch Bobcats of Union Town 62-49 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery on Wednesday night to win the Class 2A Central Regional.

After leading 15-12 at the end of the first period, it appeared as if the Lions would run away with this one leading 35-20 at the half. But the Bobcats made a run to make it a 46-41 game at the end of three periods.

The Lions were able to regroup and pull away at the end 62-49.

“We played a great team tonight,” Central Coach Toriano Baker said. He also called the Bobcats traditional 2A winners.

“We knew they were going to go on a run during the game. So in the second half we wanted to be ready for the run, and sure enough they did,” Baker said.

However, he said, “We had enough gas to withstand the run and secure the victory.”

Baker said he thought his team’s guard play was better this year than last year. “This year they are more mature,” he said, “so they are able to handle full court pressure and understand what we want to do on offense.”

The Lions were led by Wendell Snow with 19, Rafael Mickle with 15 and Perry Rudolph with 10 points.

R.C. Hatch was led by Brandon Jones with 21 points and Bakauri Jackson with 13.