The Blue Tide boys basketball team avenged an early-season loss to the Benedictine Cadets on Friday, beating the Savannah team 73-59.
In the first quarter, the visiting Cadets took the lead, 13-11, holding the Long County team to its lowest-scoring quarter of the season.
During the second quarter, the Blue Tide began to rally as players Justin Boyd and Eli Guest combined for 13 points. At the break, the Tide were on top, 31-27.
During the third quarter, several Tide starters sat the bench due to foul trouble, but the reserve players didn’t miss a beat, extending the lead to 52-36.
In the final quarter, senior Jimmy Bacon put up 10 of the Tide’s 20 points, making the final score Long County 73, BC 59.
In the game, Bacon had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Boyd added 17 points, and Ricky Rivera and Guest each had 12 points.
"The bench stepped up big tonight, Robert Gosllee, Matthew Moody, Harold Nevils, all of them came in and played big," said Blue Tide head coach Deshon Brock. "In the first half, the free throws and the tempo killed us. They had us playing their tempo. In the second half, we picked up and played our tempo, and that was the difference in the halves."
The win was the ninth victory in a row for the Blue Tide, bringing their overall record to 11-5 and their 2-AA Region record to 7-2.
The boys are back on the court Tuesday as they travel to Tattnall County to take on the Battle Creek Warriors. During the two teams’ first meeting, the Tide lost 70-71. The Warriors are tied with the Blue Tide at 7-2 in the region and they each have an 11-7 overall record.
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. in Reidsville.
Lady Tide
The Blue Tide girls’ squad moved into the No. 1 slot in the 2-AA Region standings Friday when they picked up a win over St. Vincent’s Academy. But victory didn’t come easily.
During the first half of the game, the Saints held the Long ladies to 17 points, but in the second half, both teams got their offenses rolling. The Tide earned a 44-38 win.
In the game, Shanetra Quarterman had 8 points, Brittany Mills added 9, and the leading shooter was India Gamble, who put up 14 points.
"They played a good game against us. They slowed us down, packed the zone, and made us shoot over them. That kept the game close," said Lady Tide head coach Ryan Bailey. "But a win is a win, and the ladies executed enough to get the win, and that’s all I can ask them to do."
With the victory, the Blue Tide girls’ overall record improved to 9-7 and their region record is now 7-2. Also on Friday, Brantley County lost to Appling County 51-49, dropping the Lady Herons region record to 7-3 and moving them down into second place in the 2-AA.
The Long County team travels to Tattnall County for a game Tuesday.
Going into Friday night’s game, the Lady Warriors had an overall record of 8-7 and a 2-AA Region record of 4-5.
In the first match between the two teams, the Lady Warriors came to Ludowici and beat the Tide girls 54-49, giving the Long County its first region loss of the season.
The Lady Tide will be looking to avenge the loss at 6 p.m. Tuesday.