The Long County High School girls’ basketball team was outscored 16-8 in the fourth quarter Friday to lose to Metter, 38-31, in Ludowici.
For three quarters it appeared that the Lady Tide would win their fourth game of the year. They led 8-4 at the end of the first period, 14-13 at the half, and 23-22 at the end of three. But as has happened many times this season, Long County was not able to close out the deal and pull out a win.
 “We have a confidence issue,” Lady Tide coach Kala Hires said. “Tonight, some of our bigger girls didn’t come out hot, and they got down and couldn’t bounce out of it. We also didn’t rebound well. Tonight, we shot pretty good, but we struggled with our rebounds and especially our offensive rebounds, and that killed us.”
Mikayla Lovett had a game-high 14 points for Long County. Derrissa Crawford and Raven Rose each added five points.
Hires was pleased with Rose’s play.
    “She’s been injured and really has missed half of the season. She came back against Bryan County, and tonight she got open when we needed her to, and she hit most of her shots,” Hires said.
    Janiece Handson led the Lady Tigers with 13 points.
    With the loss, Long County fell to 3-13 overall and 3-8 in Region 2B-AA Sub-Region, while Metter now stands at 5-17 overall and 3-6 in the sub-region.
The Lady Tide host Wayne County on Tuesday. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
A report on players honored during Friday’s senior-night ceremony will be in Wednesday’s Coastal Courier.