Basketball Recap: Coffee Comes Up Short

Coffee was the 52-47 winner over Thomas County Central when they last played one another back in December of 2021, but their luck changed this time around. The Coffee Trojans took a 66-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets on Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 425th, while the Yellow Jackets are ranked 125th).

When it comes to explaining why Coffee lost, don't look at Khyolic Paulk. Despite the final result, he went 11 of 18 on his way to 27 points along with seven boards and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Tresean Smith, who posted 13 points and six rebounds.

Trojans

Previous 5 Games

01/04/25 vs Thomas County Central	58-66
01/03/25 @ Veterans	49-68
12/28/24 vs Tattnall County	47-56
12/27/24 vs Toombs County	44-61
12/26/24 @ Vidalia	46-68

Even though they lost, Coffee smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 17 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Eric Love, III continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Thomas County Central, going 10 of 18 on his way to 34 points in addition to five assists and five boards. The game was Love, III's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Charlie Dunbar Iv, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Coffee's record is now 3-10. As for Thomas County Central, they pushed their record up to 10-4 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.

Coffee wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 46-37 loss against Clinch County on the 7th. As for Thomas County Central, they will host Houston County at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Houston County will roll in looking for their fifth straight win, something Thomas County Central surely won't give up without a fight.