EVANS – The Bradwell Institute Lady Tigers held off rival Brunswick on Friday night and held on to their region championship.

Bradwell, now 26-0, fought past the Lady Pirates 58-51 to retain its Region 1-AAAAA girls basketball crown and secure a No. 1 seed in the upcoming state tournament.

“It was tough from start to finish,” Bradwell coach Faye Baker said. “We made plays when we needed to at the right time and we made free throws at the right time. No one ever gets tired of winning.”

The Lady Tigers attempted a whopping 34 free throws, connecting on 21 attempts.

Jamia Ousley led the way with 16 points and Janiyah Blevins posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. Ja’Nya Bush had 14 points.

Destini McLemore registered seven points and eight rebounds, and Mikayla Oliveira had six points and 10 rebounds.

“That’s the one thing about this team I’m very, very proud of - they’re very unselfish,” Baker said. “It’s an all-around team. You can’t key on one person. They’re really special. They work hard in practice. They think the game. Janiyah has a high basketball IQ – she manages the team very well. Defensively, I put us up there with the best. We play very, very good team defense. We make adjustments well and they’re just very, very smart.”

The Lady Tigers, who already had locked up a spot in the state playoffs by virtue of winning the south subregion, opened the region tournament with a 41-28 win over Greenbrier in the semifinals.

McLemore posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Ja’Nya Bush notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 steals. Blevins had seven points, Ousley finished with six and Mikayla Oliveira had five points and 17 rebounds.

Jayla Ayler led all scorers with 14 points for the Wolfpack.

Bradwell and Brunswick each had to drive more than two-and-a-half hours – with Brunswick going nearly three-and-a-half hours – to play a region title game when the two schools are just an hour apart. But getting on the road to play for a region championship, even as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, didn’t deter the Lady Tigers.

“That shows you the resiliency of this team,” Baker said. “They’re tough. They’re used to dealing with adversity. We’ve been having to deal with injuries and having other players to step up. I’m just very, very proud of them.”

The Bradwell girls completed their region title on February 13 and have to wait more than a week to find out who they will be playing in the state first tournament first round, which doesn’t begin until February 24. It is a double-edged sword for the Lady Tigers, who could use the time to heal up, and Baker noted senior Kaydence Kern has been sidelined recently because of injuries.

But the long layoff also has her mindful of her team not being sharp when the state playoffs tip off.

“It’s really in favor because we have some nagging injuries and this will give them time to heal,” he said. “You get a little rusty when you don’t play and we were rusty against Greenbrier on Wednesday. Thank God we cleaned it up and played a lot better Friday.”