STATESBORO – The Bradwell Institute Lady Tigers gleefully hoisted the Region 1-AAAAA championship trophy into the air at Lee Hill Gym on Friday night.

It had been a long time in coming.

The Lady Tigers, behind a dominant second half, blew past the Brunswick Lady Pirates 65-41 for the region title, their first in seven years.

“It’s been a long time,” said coach Faye Baker. “We’ve been coming up short for many years, so it’s nice to finally get it done.”

Bradwell used a 17-0 run across the third and fourth quarters to take control of the game, as their defense continued to frustrate the Lady Pirates.

But instead of the man-to-man and trapping defense she’s known for, Baker called for lengthy stays in zone defenses. Early on, the Lady Pirates took advantage, especially with their offensive rebounding. Eventually, the Lady Tigers cut off passing lanes and began to force loose balls and turnovers, leading to fast break baskets at the other end.

“That was the strategy,” Baker said. “I knew they were going to be preparing for us to play in a man. I did that to offset them, and I think it did. We hang our hat on defense. We got a beat a lot on the offensive boards. Ri Ri Rivers grew up a lot tonight because she was in their battling. Our defense just wore them down.”

The Lady Pirates led by as much as 11-7 in the first quarter, on a Jakai Alston putback. But by the time Ja’Nya Bush got another layup with 2:36 left in the game, Bradwell held a commanding 61-33 advantage.

Brunswick handed the Lady Tigers a 53-38 defeat at home to end the regular season, the Bradwell girls’ first loss in 11 games dating back to December 27.

“You go on a winning streak – and we hadn’t lost since December – you get a little complacent and not working as hard as you normally should work. I think that loss was a wake-up call for us,” Baker said.

Bradwell will host a Class AAAAA first-round playoff game Tuesday against the No. 4 seed from Region 5, which will be either Rome or South Paulding.