There were still 32 minutes left to play Tuesday evening at Decatur – but the Bradwell Institute Lady Tigers put their Class AAAAA state first-round basketball tournament game away early.
Bradwell held the homestanding Lady Bulldogs without a point in the first quarter and rolled to a 58-24 win. The Lady Tigers will travel to Hamilton next week to take on Harris County, a 76-71 winner over Warner Robins.
With the win, the Lady Tigers, a No. 3 seed in the state playoffs, improved to 23-5.
Down four starters, the Lady Tigers still managed to avenge a disappointing loss in the Region 1-AAAAA tournament Friday, posting a 44-26 win over Jenkins on Friday at the Lee Hill Arena.
The Lady Tigers lost freshman Jordyn Rogers in the late stages of their first-round win Monday over Greenbrier. In warmups Wednesday before taking on Ware County in the semifinals, Kaydence Kern went down with an injury.
And Jenkins had beaten the Lady Tigers 51-42 in the regular-season finale. The Lady Tigers trailed early against the Lady Warriors on Friday. But they took control on a 13-0 run to start the second half, and the swelled to as much as 19 points.
“We adapt and we adjust and we just continue to perform. I’m just so proud of these kids,” said Lady Tigers coach Faye Baker.
Parris Parham topped the Lady Tigers with 18 points, and Raliyah Rivers helped spark the third-quarter run with back-to-back baskets, finishing with 10 points. Parham and Rivers also finished with double-doubles, as each collected 14 rebounds.
“She stepped up and played some really great minutes out there,” Baker said of Rivers, a freshman.
Jamia Ousley had seven points, and Janiyah Blevins had three points to go with five assists and five steals before she left the game with an injury.
Baker acknowledged Kern’s injury in warmups, right on the heels of Rogers going down, affected the Lady Tigers in their semifinals matchup with Ware. The Lady Gators, who beat Statesboro in the region title game, held the Lady Tigers to a season-low in points in a 48-23 rout.
“We lost two more starters this week, and it was really a blow for them,” Baker said. “They were emotional and I knew it was going to be a very good game against Ware. But resilience and perseverance, and they bounced back.”
Parham had eight points and Ousley and Destiny Gethers had five points each.
