The home fans got a treat Friday as the Long County High School boys basketball team defeated Toombs County 44-40 in Ludowici.
Though the Blue Tide won, early on it appeared the Bulldogs might pull out the upset as they took an early 14-9 lead, and then went in at the half up 22-18.
But in the third period Long County outscored their opponents 12-4 to take a 30-26 lead into the final period.
In the fourth period the home team went on an early 5-0 run to extend their lead to 35-26 and it appeared that Long County might be heading toward an easy win.
But the Bulldogs continued to fight, and with 14 seconds left in the game they had narrowed the gap to a bucket, with the Blue Tide hanging on to a 42-40 advantage. However, with Toombs County being forced to foul Long County in the hopes of getting the ball back, the win was secured for the home team when Josh Berry hit a pair of free throws to make the final score 44-40.
Blue Tide head coach Deshon Brock said that the key to the victory was a spark provided by one of his players, and “attention to detail” given by his entire team.
“James Francis provided a lot of energy for us, made some blocked shots, and had some rebounds, I believe the spark he gave us was the difference in the game…(Also our) attention to detail in the fourth quarter, we made extra passes, and with these second passes, we were able to make several of our layups,” Brock said.
The leading scorers for the Blue Tide were Berry, who had a game-high 15 points, and Vanda Vereen Jr., who had 10 points. Leading the way for Toombs County was Tamond Hampton who had 13 points.
With the win Long County improved its overall record to 10-10 and its Region 2B-AA mark to 4-5. Toombs County fell to 5-11 overall and 2-4 in the 2A-AA Sub-Region.
This Tuesday the Blue Tide boys are back on the court having a tough road game against McIntosh County. The Buccaneers currently sit atop the 2B-AA standings with a 7-0 mark, while their overall record is 13-7. The game is in Darien and it begins at 7:30 PM.
(Go to www.coastalcourier.com to see more pictures from the Long/Toombs game.)