MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Coming off three tough losses, the Georgia Military College Prep basketball team needed a confidence booster when it faced Taliaferro County on Friday. The starting group of mostly underclassmen came together to get the job done for a convincing 75-46 victory over the Jaguars, even giving the ninth grade squad a chance to shine in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

“I thought that our starting group played really well,” Coach James Lunsford said. “We’re getting better leadership.”

Malik Foston, Justin Webb, Dustin Hostetter and Jalin Milner proved to all be leaders, along with senior Jordan Hall, together accounting for 61 of the team’s 75 points.

The Bulldogs quickly took the lead to start the game and didn’t look back. Up 14-7 after the first quarter, GMC’s offense exploded in the second quarter with strong performances by Milner and Foston. Milner put up nine points within a two-minute window, and Foston hit two 3-pointers and had a total of 12 points on the quarter.

The Bulldogs put things in cruise control for the second half with Foston, Webb and Hall putting up strong performances. GMC held a 56-34 advantage heading into the final quarter. Three baskets from Webb and a 3-pointer from Hostetter gave the Bulldogs room to breathe easy. With 3:27 left in the game and a 65-40 lead, Lunsford brought in five underclassmen to finish out the game. They got the job done and freshman JaDarius Warren even put up two impressive baskets with three other future varsity players also finding the net.

The team shot 44 percent on the game and 68 percent from the free-throw line, an improvement on previous games. The Bulldog defense also showed improvement grabbing 32 rebounds, 27 from the defensive side. Foston hit two 3-pointers in the game and Hostetter and Hall had one apiece.

The Bulldogs carried their winning ways on to Saturday with another convincing victory, outscoring the Lake Oconee Academy Titans 75-50. Milner had 19 points on the game and Webb had 15. Foston, Hall and Hostetter had 13,11 and 9 points, respectively. As a team, GMC improved its shooting once again hitting 46 percent of field-goal attempts and 67 percent from the line.

With the two wins, the Bulldogs move to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in their region. Coach Lunsford said he was happy to get two region wins on the weekend but said he still wants to focus on developing the team.

“We’re still developing, and we’ve got a long way to go,” Lunsford said. “Hopefully we can get there before the season’s over.”

GMC continues with three more region opponents this week, traveling to play Hancock Central (7-4, 6-1) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., facing Glascock County (1-7, 0-4) on the road on Friday, and finally returning home for Aquinas (11-1, 7-0) on Saturday.