Tucker coach hits 500-win mark

Tucker Tiger boys’ high school basketball head coach James Hartry picked up his 500th career victory when his Tigers cruised to an 85-35 win over the Clarkston Angoras in Region 5-4A play at Clarkston on Jan. 15

Hartry’s team left little doubt they were going to give him his milestone win by scoring 40 points in the first quarter behind seven three-pointers. Braedyn Gillespie, Jakobe Williams, and Dylan Rivers had two three-pointers each, and Austin Walker added one of his own as the Tigers got out to a 40-7 lead after one quarter of play.

The victory pushed Hartry’s record to 500-210 (70.4-win percentage) in his 25th season (2001-present) at Tucker for an average of 20 wins and 8.5 losses per season. The Tigers have reached the playoffs 19 times during Hartry’s tenure and have a 12-year run going for and reaching the state playoffs.

His state playoff record is 36-18 overall in 19 appearances, including a state championship in 2007 and state final appearances in 2005, 2009, and 2019.

He trails just three other active DeKalb coaches with more than 500 wins in Phil McCrary (735-246, 34th season at Columbia) and girls’ coaches Dennis Watkins (543-225, Stephenson) and Kathy Richey-Walton (514-174, Southwest DeKalb). All four coaches have achieved more than 500 wins at one school and are all over the 70 percent win percentage mark.

Bench players hit the floor in the second quarter putting up 20 points led by Amari French and Bakari Campbell with five points each to lead the Tigers to an 60-19 advantage at the half.

In the shortened second half the Tigers (13-4, 9-1) eased on to the 85-35 win. Tucker had three players in double figures led by Gillespie with 15 points, Williams with 12 points, and Rivers with 10. Clarkston (0-12, 0-9) was led by Habeeb Abdulahi with eight points and eight rebounds and Cayden Brooks with eight points.

Girls

The Tucker Lady Tigers hit a milestone of their own in the 41-26 Region 5-4A win over the Clarkston Lady Angoras in the night’s opening game by picking up their 11th win in a season for the first time since 2018.

Head coach Shanna Herman’s squad began to put some distance between themselves and Clarkston (1-13, 1-8) in the second quarter to break a 9-9 deadlock after the first period of play.

Ahkiyah Johnson keyed an 8-1 spurt by the Lady Tigers (11-7, 4-6) with a three-pointer and following up with a layup as Tucker took a 17-11 advantage into the half.

Mariel Austin opened the second half with an offensive put back and a pair of free throws to push the lead out to 10 points (21-11). Amunique Blyden hit a late three-pointer for a 28-15 margin with one quarter to play.

Two baskets by Kayla Bradley late in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers their largest lead of the night at 35-18 with 3:04 to play.

A three-pointer by Genet Abatie and three free throws from Anaiyah Sims pulled Clarkston back within 10 (36-26) with just 28 seconds to play.

Tucker answered with a basket by with two free throws by Azaria Tolen and a buzzer-beating layup by Austin to make the final margin of 41-26.

Tucker got eight points each from Tolen and Bradley in the game while Elaina Parker added four points and nine rebounds. Anaiyah Sims came up one point shy of a double with nine points and 12 rebounds for Clarkston.