Just days after the Long County Lady Blue Tide basketball team played the Claxton Tigers to 90 points and the boys dropped 91 themselves, both teams found themselves embroiled in a pair of low-scoring battles with the Class 6A Richmond Hill Wildcats. The Tide hosted the Wildcats on Friday, November 18 and fell in their second games of the season.
The Lady Tide felt good after their season-opening win over Claxton on Tuesday and looked to use that momentum to start the year 2-0. One big reason for their success over the Tigers was the 3-point shot, but it was just not falling for the Tide on Friday.
Richmond Hill went on a run in the first quarter to push its lead to 12-4 with three minutes left in the first as they led 12-7. The Wildcats hit a 3 in the second to go up eight, but the Tide went on an 8-0 run to tie the game.
Senior Jada Young connected on a pair of free throws to give her team the lead for the first time in the game with three minutes remaining in the half. The Tide’s run grew to 12-0 as they led 19-15, but the Wildcats outscored the Tide 8-4 down the stretch as the teams were tied 23-23.
The third quarter was the lowest scoring quarter in a long while as the two teams combined for six points as the Wildcats led 27-25. The Tide’s 3-point woes continued as the lid stayed on the bucket and the Tide added to their seven first-half misses with five more.
Richmond Hill’s run stretched to 10-1 since it trailed 25-23 in the third and built its lead to 33-26. The Tide went on a scoreless run of over five minutes as they finally scored with under two minutes remaining and fell 37-30.
The Lady Tide were 0-of-14 from 3-point range in the game and Young was held in check in the second half after scoring 17 points in the first. She finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the year.
The boys suffered the same fate as the girls from 3-point range as they hoped to keep their hot hand going in the matchup with the Wildcats. In Tuesday’s game, they were 13-of-24 from 3, but in Friday’s game, they were 0-of-12 in the first quarter.
Trailing 13-6 at the end of the first, the Tide looked to get something going from long range and finally hit their first 3 at the 3:15 mark in the second as senior CJ Glenn sunk his third attempt.
The Tide went on a 14-6 run to make the score 22-20 and closed on a 5-0 run to go down only 28-26 at halftime. The run was helped by Roderick Randall’s 3, only the second make of the first half. The Tide were 2-of-18 from 3 in the first half.
The second half did not start great for the Tide as the Wildcats went on 9-0 run to open and take a 37-26 lead.
Junior Chuck Anderson, who was 5-for-5 from 3 in Tuesday’s game, finally hit his first of his six attempts on the night to cut into the Wildcats’ lead. Junior Keshawn Smith connected on a tough three-point play to make the score 37-32 with 3:15 left in the third.
The Wildcats led 44-37 going into the final period and the Tide tried to get it going from long range. They missed all 10 of their attempts from long range and the Wildcats kept pounding the glass and eventually built their final score to 55-44.
The Tide fall to 1-1 on the year with the loss and look to bounce back with a rivalry game against Wayne County on Tuesday, November 22.