Savannah Christian had not trailed in the basketball game when Vidalia surged to the lead two minutes into the fourth quarter.
The host Raiders suddenly went from the hunted to the hunters. The Indians didn’t lose their grip, riding near perfection at the foul line to a 62-55 victory on Tuesday night.
Vidalia’s rally took some of the luster from Ty Byrd’s big night for Savannah Christian, which had positioned itself to knock off the Region 3-A Division I leader (16-5, 7-1 region).
Byrd, a 6-foot-5 junior center, carried the Raiders (9-9, 1-5 region) on offense with a game-high 27 points and also made his presence felt rebounding and as 
a rim protector.
“We go as Ty goes,” Raiders coach Zach Darling said. “Other guys play off of his energy and his success on the offensive end.”
If the Byrd name at Savannah Christian sounds familiar, it should. His mother, Toy Byrd, was a highly successful and longtime coach of Raiders girls basketball teams; his father, Robbie, was a student-athlete in the SCPS Class of 1990; and Ty’s older sisters, Sarah and Maggie, also are graduates. Maggie Byrd, a three-sport athlete who won two state titles in the high jump, now plays volleyball at Kennesaw State.
“When they hear that (family name), they know we’ve been here for so long,” said Ty Byrd, who was born during the high school basketball season in February 2008. “My whole family has played sports here their whole lives.”
While his 27-point night was one point short of tying his season high set in a win over St. Mary’s Academy in the second game on Nov. 26, Byrd said it felt better coming against region rival Vidalia.
Darling called Byrd dominant on the offensive and defensive boards on Tuesday, and noted the center can be a mismatch for defenses when he aggressively goes to the rim in the team’s motion offense. Byrd upped his game by hitting five 3-pointers – the last of which got the Raiders within 51-50 with 1:41 left in regulation.
“Tonight, he really caught fire from the perimeter,” Darling said. “If you’ve 
watched him for a few years, he’s a great shooter and maybe been in a slump the first half of (this) season. It was good to see him knock down some of those shots from deep tonight.”
The rest of the Raiders, however, had more difficulty finding their scoring touch. Aden Johnson was the only teammate in double figures with 13 points. Savannah Christian gets better results, as it showed in a 57-39 victory earlier this month at Savannah Country Day, with more balanced scoring from multiple contributors.
“Everybody got their points,” Byrd said of that victory over their crosstown and region rivals. “We showed sparks of that tonight. We rebounded decently. We can’t finish it. That’s about it. That’s a lot of our games this season. We come out, we go hard. We’re up, we’re up, and then come out after halftime and get off to a rocky start. Then we go downhill pretty fast. But we’re doing better than we had been at the beginning of the season.”
Byrd referenced the first meeting with Vidalia on Dec. 17, when the Indians went up 20-6 after one quarter and the Raiders had to play catch-up, gaining and losing ground before falling by the same 14-point margin, 65-51.
It was a different flow to the game Tuesday, as Savannah Christian went up early with three different scorers. Byrd cleaned up a teammate’s miss with an offensive rebound and putback for 6-0.
Vidalia guard Brycen Burns, indicating things to come, drilled two consecutive 3-pointers to even the score. The Indians, while not making a single trip to the free-throw line, relied on 3-pointers to stay within striking range in the first half, which ended with the Raiders up 28-21.
Savannah Christian’s advantage grew to nine points before it was cut to five, 46-41 through three quarters. Vidalia’s Jayon Coleman (team-high 24 total points) and Burns (12) each hit 3-pointers in the quarter, and the Indians went 2-for-4 from the foul line.
Darling said the scouting report included stopping Coleman and Burns, Vidalia’s main outside shooting threats. When the Raiders’ defense let the pair get clean looks, they are good players, Darling said, and are “going to knock down open shots.”
As far as the Raiders’ offense, Darling said. “We were aggressive for the first three quarters, trying to get to the rim and attack them when they were on defense. We got to the rim. I felt like we had an advantage with 6-5 Ty (Byrd) and 6-3 James Stevens. We capitalized on that. During that stretch where we went cold, we settled for some jump shots instead of being aggressive to the rim.”
Savannah Christian went cold in the fourth quarter, when Vidalia scored the first eight points on Coleman’s putback and three-point play, Rashad Brown’s athletic layup to tie the game, and Coleman’s 3-pointer for the Indians’ first lead of the night, 49-46, with just under six minutes remaining in regulation.
Byrd battled for several attempts on the offensive glass, drawing a foul and making one of two attempts for 49-47 with 5:33 left.
Vidalia, newly energized, became more aggressive and drove at the basket and defender Byrd, who picked up all four of his fouls in the fourth quarter.
Byrd proved to be the most trustworthy and reliable shooter when he sank that 3-pointer with 1:41 left for a 51-50 deficit, but the rest of the game became a parade of Vidalia players to the foul line.
The Raiders tried to make up ground with a full-court press and fouls, but the Indians didn’t cooperate. They made 14 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, including all 10 in the final 50 seconds. Brown made six straight and Coleman sank four more as the lead built to seven points.
Darling said that after being “super disciplined” on defense, the Raiders got “out of character” in the fourth quarter, reaching and fouling the Indians, sending them to the line instead making them attempt field goals. To their credit, the Indians made their foul shots.
“We played them at their place and kind of took a thumping,” Darling said. “These guys bounced back. We controlled tempo for 80 percent of the game. It was three or four possessions in a row where we had some letdowns. They capitalized and it switched the momentum. They took the lead. They consistently hit free throws down the stretch and we went cold for the final two or three minutes.”
VIDALIA 62, SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 55
VIDALIA (62)
Jayon Coleman 24, Rashad Brown 14, Boles 4, Wallace 6, Brycen Burns 12, Phillips 2.
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN (55)
Aden Johnson 13, Schmucker 0, Ty Byrd 27, Stevens 9, Bunch 6.
VHS|12|9|20|21|62
SCPS|13|15|18|9|--|55
Records—Vidalia 16-5, 7-1 Region 3-A Division 1; Savannah Christian 9-9, 1-5 region.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
VIDALIA 48, SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 26
The Indians remained unbeaten and alone in first place in Region 3-A Division I, while the host Raiders are still looking for their first region victory.
Savannah Christian, while has lost 68-25 at Vidalia on Dec. 17, led 11-3 after the first quarter. But Vidalia found its scoring touch with a 23-point second quarter and kept SCPS off the scoreboard in both the second and third quarters.
Vidalia’s Tori Polke and Hannah Nichols, with 11 points apiece, were the only players on either side to score in double figures.
VIDALIA (48)
Lewis 2, Hodges 2, Bacon 4, Tori Polke 11, Goings 4, Hannah Nichols 11, Warner 5, Monroe 9.
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN (26)
Branch 7, L. Phillips 5, Gard 2, A. Phillips 3, Miller 5, Poppell 2, Austin 2.
VHS|3|23|15|7|--|48
SCPS|11|0|0|15|--|26
Records—Vidalia 15-6, 8-0 Region 3-A D1; Savannah Christian 5-13, 0-8 region.
Photos: Courtesy proshot_media on Instagram - Headshot Savannah Christian Prep Athletic Department
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