Frankie Raines Jr. guides Stratford to dominant first-round playoff win over Loganville Christian, 71-48

The Stratford Academy Eagles overcame a sluggish start to cruise to a 71-48 win over Loganville Christian in the first round of the GIAA 4A State Tournament. 

Stratford improved to 21-7 on the year with the win, earning another matchup with Tattnall on Saturday. 

The Eagles trailed 10-6 after the first quarter, and it seemed like the visiting Lions had enough weapons to stay with Stratford.

That changed quickly in the second quarter when Stratford senior Frankie Raines Jr. took over. He scored 11 of his game high 29 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers. The Eagles dominated the rest of the way, outscoring the Lions 65-38 over the last three quarters as Bobby Wooten added another 14 points for Stratford.

“I would say that both teams were evenly matched, but the big difference is that we have Frankie,” Stratford head coach Jarvis Smith said. “He only had two points in the first quarter but once he got going he just took over the game. When Frankie gets going, everyone else on the floor is much better. I won’t say I was worried after the first quarter, I knew we just needed to see the ball go through the basket and we would be fine.”

Raines, who is in his first year at Stratford after playing at Macon County his first three seasons, realized he needed to pick it up in the second quarter. 

“I knew I could not let this be a loss, and I know my team needed me, so I just worked a little harder,” Raines said.  “My Stratford family has been so great to me and I almost feel like I owe this to them. The entire team knows that we still have a lot of great basketball to play.”

That will start with Tattnall on Saturday, a team that has beaten Stratford on buzzer-beaters twice this year. 

“I won’t take anything away from Tattnall Square because they have found a way against us, but these were two tremendous basketball games that either team could have won,” Smith said. “We will just get to work and try to get ready for another great game.”