Slow starts Monday and Tuesday night were big factors in the Apalachee boys’ basketball team’s two most recent losses, although the Wildcats almost overcame one of their big deficits, falling just short.

The Wildcats fell behind Habersham Central 15-4 in the first four minutes of Monday’s makeup game in Mount Airy and ended up losing to the Raiders 59-56.

It was even worse Tuesday night in Danielsville as Madison County blitzed the ‘Cats 27-3 over the first seven minutes of the opening period and coasted to a 73-57 victory.

Apalachee has lost five straight games and has seen its overall record dip to 6-15 and its subregion 8-AAAA North chart fall to 1-6.

The Wildcats return to action Friday when they travel to Cedar Shoals in Athens for an 8:30 p.m. game.  Saturday, they face cross-county rival Winder-Barrow in a 7:30 p.m. rematch at the Dogghouse.

The ‘Cats defeated Cedar Shoals 46-32 in their first meeting Jan. 19 at Apalachee and gave Winder-Barrow all it could handle before losing 53-46 last Saturday at the Wildcats’ gym.

DeVaughn Kilgore poured in 28 points in the loss to Habersham Central, 15 of them in the fourth quarter when he almost brought his team back to victory.  John Ansley added eight points and Quincy Gibson had six.

Kyle Gunter headed up the Raiders’ attack with 17 points, 12 in the opening quarter, and Dee Ellison added 14.

Kilgore led Apalachee against Madison County with 14 points, Gibson added 11 and Ansley and Montrellis Farley each contributed seven.

Patrick McCrary was the top point-getter for Madison County with 19, T.J. McGuire had 16, Bradley Raines 12, Stan Maxwell 10 and Trae Burton eight as the Red Raider starters combined for 65 points.

Madison County improved to 19-4 overall and 7-1 in subregion play.  The Red Raiders host Clarke Central Friday in a game that could go a long way toward determining the top seed in 8-AAAA North.

Habersham Central ended the first quarter with a 19-10 lead, but Apalachee outscored its hosts 12-3 over the first 4:23 of the second period and tied the score at 22 on Kilgore’s two free throws.

Apalachee never took the lead, however, and Habersham Central responded with a 10-2 run to go ahead by 32-24 before settling for a 32-26 halftime lead.

The Wildcats did not score at all in the third period until Nelson Gibson made a foul shot with 2:46 remaining.  By then, the Raiders had scored 13 unanswered points and taken a 45-26 lead.  They held their biggest lead of 20 points, 47-27, 10 seconds later and led 51-33 going into the fourth quarter.

Habersham Central made only two free throws over the first 6:35 of the final period while the Wildcats were scoring 14 points, nine of them by Kilgore, to get within six.

Ellison had back-to-back breakaway layups to push the Raiders back up by 10, but a 9-1 Wildcat spurt trimmed the margin to two points, 58-56, with 20.3 seconds left.

After a timeout, Kilgore immediately fouled Jake Brooks, who made the second of two free throws.

Rakim Peters shot a 3-pointer after the ‘Cats came down the floor.  He missed but hustled to get the rebound and passed out to Ansley, who tried another trey.  He also missed, Gunter got the rebound and was fouled with only 1.3 seconds remaining.

Gunter missed both free throws, but there was only time for Christ Smith to launch a full-court heave to try to tie the game.

HAB. CENTRAL 59, AHS BOYS 56
Apalachee                     10     16      7     23—56
Habersham Central     19     13    19       8—59
Apalachee—DeVaughn Kilgore 9 10-13 28, Quincy Gibson 2 2-3 6, Chris Smith 1 0-0 2, Rakim Peters 0 1-2 1, Maurice Dixon 0 0-0 0, John Ansley 4 0-4 8, Dennis Pritchard 0 0-0 0, Nelson Gibson 2 1-4 5, Cameron Blakely 2 0-0 4, Montrellis Farley 1 0-0 2, Cameron Hill 0 0-0 0.  Totals 21-46 14-26 56.
Habersham Central—Dee Ellison 6 1-2 14, Kevin Ellison 1 2-5 5, Kyle Gunter 6 2-6 17, Pat Burns 3 0-0 6, Brian Owen 2 2-4 6, Cody Anderson 0 4-6 4, Chasten Howard 0 1-2 1, Richard Schildbach 0 1-2 1, Jordan Sanders 0 0-0 0, Jake Brooks 0 5-7 5, Jamal Waters 0 0-0 0.  Totals 18-38 18-34 59.
3-pointers—Apalachee 0; Habersham Central 5 (D. Ellison, K. Ellison, Gunter 3).  Rebounds—Apalachee 30 (Smith 6, Blakely 6); Habersham Central 26 (Gunter 7).  Turnovers—Apalachee 24; Habersham Central 25.  Personal fouls—Apalachee 26; Habersham Central 23.
MADISON CO. 73, AHS BOYS 57
Apalachee                     6     19     13     19—57
Madison County        27     14     17     15—73
Apalachee—John Ansley 2 2-4 7, DeVaughn Kilgore 6 2-4 14, Quincy Gibson 5 1-2 11, Chris Smith 0 0-0 0, Rakim Peters 0 0-0 0, Nelson Gibson 2 1-4 5, Cameron Blakely 2 0-0 4, Montrellis Farley 2 2-2 7, Dennis Pritchard 0 2-2 2, Maurice Dixon 2 0-0 5, Cameron Hill 1 0-0 2, Nate Holton 0 0-0 0, Tyler Davis 0 0-0 0.  Totals 22-46 10-18 57.
Madison County—Trae Burton 3 1-2 8, Bradley Raines 3 6-6 12, Stan Maxwell 5 0-1 10, T.J. McGuire 6 4-6 16, Patrick McCrary 8 3-3 19, Dominique Parrish 1 0-0 2, Josh Crouse 0 0-0 0, Presley McKeever 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Butler 1 0-0 2, Marquis Thomas 1 0-0 2, Terrell McCrary 1 0-0 2.  Totals 29-62 14-18 73.
3-pointers—Apalachee 3 (Ansley, Farley, Dixon); Madison County 1 (Burton).  Rebounds—Apalachee 29 (Kilgore 7); Madison County 29 (P. McCrary 8).  Turnovers—Apalachee 21; Madison County 13.  Personal fouls—Apalachee 11; Madison County 15.