Bradwell Institute’s Lady Tiger basketball team suffered a heartbreaking, 31-30 loss to Ware County in the first round of the Region 3-AAAAA tournament game Tuesday at Richmond Hill High School.
However, the Bradwell boys’ team beat Glynn Academy, 54-33, to advance to round two.
Lady Tiger basketball coach Faye Baker said the loss was tough for the girls, who fought so hard throughout the game.
“We lost on a rebound put-back with 0.3 on the clock,” she said.
Baker said the girls did miss a few easy shots throughout the game.
The Lady Tigers went 8-18 overall and 6-8 in the region. Baker said it was a difficult year, but every once in a while, a team needs to rebuild for the future.
“I’m optimistic and excited because we have 13 players returning next year,” she said.
In the boys’ game, coach Rhett Hellgren’s seniors did not want to duplicate last season’s one-and-done region-tournament results.
“Malcolm (Dingle) told me every day for about a week that we were not going to let what happened last year happen this year,” Hellgren said. “He was right. The players really showed what they could do tonight.”
The Tigers handled business from the start, taking a 29-17 lead by halftime. Reasha Stokes led the team with 16 points, Dingle had 13 and Jamorris Hill had 11.
“We have worked tremendously hard, and I am especially proud of my seniors,” Hellgren said. “They are super guys to have on the team. The kids felt great, and I was excited for them as well. The seniors played like seniors and really did what they were supposed to do.”
Hellgren said the Tigers did so well in keeping the lead that he was able to relax a bit toward the end of the game, adding that it felt nice to do so.
The Tigers were scheduled to face Effingham County at 5 p.m. Thursday; final results were not available by press time. The winner advanced to tonight’s region final.

GA — 7/10/7/9: 33
BI — 12/17/7/20: 56
BI scoring — Reasha Stokes 16 (2 of 2 free throws) Malcolm Dingle 13 (4 of 6), Jamorris Hill 11 (3 of 5), Tevin Womack 7, Hubert Anderson 5 (1 of 3), Kendrick Harris-Bennett 2 (0 of 1), Jair Reynolds 2.