SAVANNAH-The Long County Lady Tide clinched the number three seed from Region 3-AAA in an exciting game Satuday, a 40-38 win over Savannah Country Day, while the boys could not overcome the Johnson Atomsmashers 66-51 in the region championship game.
Two Adryanna Harley 3-pointers gave the Lady Tide a 13-11 lead going into the second quarter. The Lady Tide fought hard in the second quarter with Jada Young connecting on a tough three-point play to put her team up four points.
The Lady Hornets stretched a run to 9-0 in the third quarter as they took a 28-24 lead, keeping the Tide scoreless for nearly four minutes. That drought came to an end as Amiyah Simpkins connected on a three-point play of her own to make the score 28-27.
They completed a 5-0 run to regain the 29-28 lead. The Hornets connected on a 3 to take a 31-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Tide tied the game up 31-31 before SCD went up 38-31 with 3:45 left in the game. This was the biggest lead of the game for either team and it seemed like the Lady Tide were going to fall to fourth place.
However, the Lady Tide went on an 8-0 run down the stretch to take a 39-38 lead. Right before the game-winning possession, junior Imani Pouncey showed off some great defense as she forced a double dribble at the top of the key.
With the ball under the own goal and 15 seconds left on the clock, Harley found fellow senior Young, who nailed home the layup to put the Tide up by one.
Young and Simpkins kept the Hornets from connecting on three different attempts as the basket as the Tide got the ball back and Harley nailed one free throw.
Harley led the Tide with 15 points and Young had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. With the win, the Lady Tide clinch the number three seed and will travel to play Morgan County on Tuesday, February 21 at 6 p.m.
The Blue Tide boys took the court after beating Beach for the second time in two weeks with a 55-45 victory on Friday. They faced off with the Johnson Atomsmashers, who had beaten their last eight opponents by an average of 30.6 points entering Saturday’s game.
They looked to make number nine no different as they came out hot, opening on a 10-0 run. That run included two three-point plays and a big dunk.
The Atomsmashers kept the Tide off the board until the 3:33 mark of the first quarter on Jamel Brimlett’s 3.
The Tide trailed 21-7 going into the second quarter after going 1-of-6 from 3 in the first. Their luck from 3 seemed to be changing as Brimlett made his second attempt, but they only made one of their next six attempts as they trailed 39-22 going to the locker room.
Late in the third quarter, the Tide went on a 9-0 run that was capped off by Chuck Anderson’s finish for a three-point play to make the score 48-38 with less than a minute left.
The ten points, however, was as close as the Tide got as the Atomsmashers led 50-38 going into the fourth, and they pushed their lead to as much as 15 points.
With the loss, the Tide will be the number two seed in the state playoffs and will host the Salem Seminoles in the first round either Tuesday or Wednesday next week.