The Baldwin boys’ basketball team capped off a fantastic 2023-24 regular schedule last Tuesday with a 73-30 beatdown of Swainsboro, finishing the season an undefeated 12-0 in region play and 22-2 overall.
This Tuesday, the winning carried over to the region tournament opener at Howard High School in Macon, as the Braves beat Westside 85-52 to advance.
The Braves outscored the Seminoles 32-15 in the opening quarter, then led 47-36 at the half. A 21-6 third quarter for Baldwin essentially put the game out of reach for Westside which managed only 10 more points in the final quarter while the Braves added 17 to reach the 85-52 final.
Tremarius Lawrence led scoring for Baldwin with 21 points, fellow senior Isaiah Dennis contributed 19 points, and sophomore Karez Demory had 15 points. Deven Nelson had nine total rebounds to lead that category for the Braves.
Baldwin’s regular-season finale also offered a good example of the Braves' season as the team didn’t skip a beat defensively against the visiting Tigers.
Despite a slow start that saw the Braves leading only 9-4 after the first quarter of their final regular-season game, they eventually found their way with a dominant two quarters in which Baldwin put up a combined 56 points while allowing only 18 points by Swainsboro.
Each team scored eight points in the final quarter to reach a 73-30 final score.
Leading the Braves on offense again was Dennis with 20 points and Lawrence, who scored 16 points. Baldwin also had four players with at least five rebounds on the night.