It looked like the Long County girls’ team might eke out a win against St. Vincent’s Academy for the home fans Tuesday.
But a late surge by the Saints resulted in the Lady Tide falling, 39-29, in Ludowici.
Neither team asserted its dominance over the other through the first two periods. At the end of the third quarter, St. Vincent’s had a narrow 27-22 lead. But in the fourth quarter, the Saints took advantage of a few key turnovers and outscored the Lady Tide, 12-7, to pull away for the win. Katie Estill led Long County with nine points. Malaka Elix added six points, Tyronica Johnson had five points, and Keshawdra Cooper had three points.
Elexxus Wrighton, Keke Calhoun and Cait Wingate each had two points.
Madison Powers and Taylor DeLoach each had 10 points to lead the Saints.
Lady Tide head coach Brian Todd felt his team had opportunities to win, but just couldn’t get over the hump.
“With our inexperience, their zone gave us problems all night,” he said. “That was a big difference in the game. Also, with us playing a lot of young kids, we were not patient enough to pull out the win.”
Todd praised the effort of his team and the individual play of Estill and Wingate.
The Lady Tide fell to 4-16 overall and 2-6 in Region 2B-AA.
The Saints improved to 9-8 and 6-3.
Tonight, the Lady Tide have another big region game, taking on Toombs County in Lyons. The Lady Bulldogs bring a 7-10 overall record into the game, as well as a 4-6 region mark.  The game tips off at 6 p.m.

SVA — 10/10/7/12: 39
LC — 6/11/5/7: 29

The Long County boys’ basketball team went tooth and nail with Benedictine Military School for three quarters Tuesday. However, the fourth quarter belonged to the Cadets, who outscored the Blue Tide by 11 points in the period en route to a 71-56 win.  
Early in the game, it looked like it would be an ugly night for Long County as Benedictine led 23-15 at the end of the first period. But in the second period, behind big 3-pointers from Clay Strickland and Vanda Vereen Jr. and aggressive defense, the Blue Tide came back to down only two points, 36-34, at the half.
Through the third period and early into the fourth, Long County continued to be aggressive on the boards and fought to tie the game at 50-50. But in the final period, the buckets wouldn’t fall for the Blue Tide, and the Cadets began to dominate on the rebounds. Having more second shots from winning the battle of the boards, Benedictine pulled away with a  10-0 run.
Finding themselves down, the Blue Tide appeared to play tight, resulting in the Cadets securing the win.
Long County’s James Francis led all scorers with 20 points. Vereen had 14 points, while Strickland had eight points.
Ben and Warren Wright each had 17 points to lead the Cadets, with Ellison Burns adding 13 points.
With the loss, the Blue Tide fell to 4-15 overall and 2-7 in Region 2B-AA. Benedictine improved to 10-4 and 5-3.
Tonight, the Tide continue region play by facing Toombs County in Lyons. Like the Tide, the Bulldogs are having a tough year, posting an overall record of 1-17 and a region mark of 0-6. Tip-off is scheduled for  7:30.

BMS — 23/13/18/17: 71
LC — 15/19/16/6: 56