When does a victory taste like chicken?

When you’re Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker’s players and her mom, Ethel, promises the entire squad a fried chicken meal if they beat Beach High.

Mama Baker better start breading the drumsticks and throw in some macaroni and cheese as the Lady Tigers dropped the Lady Bulldogs 73-39, regaining first place in Region 3-AAAAA on Tuesday night.

The Lady Tigers closed the first up by 7, but Bulldog Khalilah Watson, who scored 17 points for the night, closed the gap to 5 with 4 minutes left in the second quarter.

Baker used a new tactic, giving the entire bench an opportunity and keeping fresh legs in the game.

"I talked to the reserves, I talked to Raven (Anderson), Candice (Curry) and I told them we are going to need you guys," Baker said. "I thought the first time we played, a little bit of that was my fault, I think I ran my starters too hard and they ran out of gas. So I felt I would have to rely on my reserves more in a game like this tonight. And they did. They rose to the challenge."

The adjustments led to a 12-point lead at the half.

Starters Mariah Maternik, Brytnii Speight and Seandre Lee were also credited for exceptional offense. Lee chipped in 26 points, Speight added 20 and Maternik dropped in 10. More importantly they held Monique Willis to only 4 for the night.

"We didn’t react to their adjustment," Lady Bulldog coach Ronald Booker said. "They out played us and Faye, in a sense, outcoached me."

The Lady Tigers improve to 18-3 and 10-1 in the region. Beach is 18-4, 10-2.