The unbeaten Bradwell Institute Lady Tigers celebrated senior night with an exclamation point Saturday, hammering Long County, 56-16, in Hinesville.

The win followed a handful of games in which Bradwell struggled to score.

"Our point production has been down lately. We only defeated Windsor Forest by one point," BI coach Faye Baker said. "We have been working on creating more opportunities for our offense by playing stronger defense and scoring off turnovers and we are starting to do a good job at that. I hope that momentum will carry over into the region tournament."

Bradwell dominated Saturday’s game from the opening tip. With the game under control, Baker was able to substitute freely.

But she put her starters back in at the beginning of the third quarter, and the Lady Tigers began an offensive bombardment resulting in 28 points.

Mariah Maternik had 15 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers.

Bradwell’s half-court trap forced the Lady Tide to commit consecutive turnovers that became Lady Tiger layups.

"Against Windsor Forest we were stagnant offensively and didn’t really press. Tonight we did a good job trapping and forcing turnovers that we scored on," Baker said.

Maternik led BI with 21 points; Shaquioa Crockett contributed seven points.

Only one regular season game remains on the Lady Tigers’ schedule. Bradwell hosted region rival Savannah High last night. The Lady Tigers defeated Savannah High in January, 59-45.

Bradwell moves to 24-0 overall and 15-0 in region play. The Lady Tigers currently are ranked No. 3 in the state behind Norcross and Brookwood. They’re also one of only 10 teams in Georgia that were unbeaten heading into the week.

The Savannah High game stands between the Lady Tigers and an undefeated regular season.

"We don’t think about it a whole lot. Any coach would relish an opportunity to have a chance to be undefeated," Baker said.

"We don’t take anyone lightly. There are a lot of things that we still don’t do as well as we need too."

Baker said the team’s success this season can be attributed to the hard work and commitment of the kids.

"They have worked hard in the summer and the offseason to get to this point," Baker said.

"We are far from perfect and we keep them grounded so they understand that we have to keep working harder as we got close to the region tournament and eventually state."

Bradwell 56, Long 16

Long 3|5|4|4-16

BI 8|15|28|4-56

Long top scorers: Miranda McDowell 7, Allison Burton 4, Jameka Boyd 5

Bradwell top scorers: Mariah Maternik 21, ShaQuioa Crockett 7, Quinkia Hatchell 5,
Symone May 5, Quintunya Chapman 4, Jordan McAlister 4, Kandice Bolden 2, Latisha Frasier 2, KeAndra Frasier 2