The Long County High School girls’ basketball team on Monday advanced into the Region 2-AA tournament by defeating Toombs County, 35-31, in Lyons.
However, the Long County boys’ team didn’t fare as well, losing to Bacon County, 73-52, ending their season.
The Lady Tide and the Lady Bulldogs went back and forth in the first half, with both teams playing good defense. Long County trailed by one point at halftime. In the second half, the shots fell for the Lady Tide as they outscored the Dogs, 22-18.
First-year head coach Brian Todd was pleased with his team’s performance and said that his team grew up a lot in the game.  
“Girls played really hard tonight. I told them before the game it didn’t matter that Toombs was better than us, we just had to be better than them tonight, and that’s what happened,” Todd said.
He was especially pleased with his team’s defensive efforts.
“(Our team’s) best defensive game of the year. Tyronica Johnson and Keke Calhoun combined to hold their lead scorer to five points,” he said.
Katie Estill led Long County with 14 points. Keshawdra Cooper added 10 points, while Malaka Elix chipped in nine points.  
With the win, the Lady Tide advanced in the tournament were scheduled to take on Bryan County on Tuesday in Lyons. Results were unavailable at press time.
For the Long County boys, their loss on Monday ended a disappointing season. They finished with a 6-19 overall record and a 4-9 region mark.
See Friday’s Coastal Courier for results of the Lady Tide-Bryan County game.
On Feb. 7, the Blue Tide and the Lady Tide lost their final games of the regular season at Bryan County, with the girls falling, 56-40, and the boys losing, 107-97.