Rebounding from their first Region 3B-AAAAA losses Tuesday at Jenkins, Bradwell Institute’s basketball teams defeated both Groves squads Friday at home to improve to 5-1 in the region.
The Lady Tigers soared in the second quarter to win, 50-25, and the Tiger boys changed the game tempo and took advantage of technical fouls and poor free-throw shooting by Groves for a 54-50 victory.
In the girls contest, both teams struggled to find a rhythm as the score was 7-7 to close the first quarter. But in the second quarter, the Lady Tigers found their groove and hustled to the basket, outscoring the Rebels, 17-2, taking the lead and never looking back.
Bradwell’s Shaquoia Crockett dumped in 15 points and teammate Leitia Leiataua chipped in 11, including a 3-pointer. Lady Tiger Jakaria Fleming also had 11 points.
 “I can’t explain why we couldn’t get it going at first, but I was happy to see we were able to extend the lead in the second quarter,” Lady Tigers coach Faye Baker said. “Leitia had a good game, her best performance to date, especially shooting the ball. I was glad to see that happen for her tonight.”
Baker also was impressed with Alize Roberts, who just joined the team after transferring to Bradwell this semester. Baker said Roberts, who is a little taller than the rest of the squad, is developing quite well, especially since she has only practiced a few times since joining the program.
“She is definitely going to help us a lot,” Baker said. “She gives us more of that inside presence, more of that go-to person. She’s only had a few practices, so we are still working on getting her to basketball form, but you could see she was already effective for us out there tonight.”
Javaughna Claridy got an opportunity to start and played well defensively, going for the steals and rebounds, which also impressed Baker.
The Lady Tigers improved to 5-10 overall and 5-1 in the region. The girls were scheduled to travel Saturday to Gainesville, Fla., for a non-region test against P.K. Yonge. On Tuesday, Bradwell hosts the Effingham County Rebels, who are also 5-1 in the region and hold an overall 12-4 mark.

In Friday’s boys’ game, Bradwell was embroiled in a contentious battle. Groves’ tempers flared, which cost the Rebels three technical fouls. The Tigers hit four of six technical free-throws.
The first technical happened in the first quarter, when the Tigers held a short-lived lead before the Rebels came back. It was back-and-forth until mid-fourth quarter, when several factors contributed to the Rebels’ downfall. First, Tiger coach Rhett Hellgren called a timeout and discussed changing the tempo of the game. The Rebels were trying to keep the Tigers in a run-and-gun attack, but Hellgren switched things up, held the ball, ate the clock and had his players be more methodical with their passes and shots. It flustered the Rebels, who then were hit with back-to-back technical fouls. This gave the Tigers a wider point spread, and even though the Rebels hit some late shots the Tigers held on for the win.
Groves also hurt themselves, only hitting 9-of-31 shots.
Bradwell’s Malcolm Dingle set the pace with 21 points. Miguel Pineda chipped in 14, and Reasha Stokes added 12 in the effort.
The Tiger boys, 9-7 overall and 5-1 in the region, host  Effingham County on Tuesday in a region contest. Effingham is undefeated in region at 6-0 and is 13-2 overall.

Girls
Lady Tigers 7 17 12 14 – 50
Shaquoia Crockett 15, Leitia Leiataua 11 (One three-pointer), Jakaria Fleming 11
Lady Rebels 7 2 8 8 – 25
7-of-16 at line
Boys
Tigers 13 11 9 21 – 54
15-of-23 at line;  Malcolm Dingle 21, Miguel Pineda 14, Reasha Stokes 12,     
Rebels 9 14 9 18 – 50
9-of-31 at line