The Long County basketball teams swept Metter on Saturday with the boys defeating the Tigers 80-54 and the girls winning 58-51.
“I thought we played good team basketball on both ends of the floor,” Blue Tide head coach Deshon Brock said. “I thought we communicated well on defense and forced Metter to make a few mistakes, and then we were able to close them out in the end.”
The leading scorers for the Long County boys were Ryhiem Izzard (10 points), Xavier Stapleton (11 points), and Eric Shaw (26 points).
Despite his team getting in some early foul trouble, Brock said he was pleased with the efforts of several players coming off the bench.
“Xavier and Ryhiem played well. They came in and gave us a spark and some enthusiasm on defense. I thought Keon Burns and Stefan Hugley played well off the bench, and Eric was lights out with his shooting,” Brock said.
The coach said he also was pleased with his junior varsity team’s effort in beating the Baby Tigers 45-30. In that game, Nate Francis and Raekwon Baggs led the scoring with 10 points each.
In the Lady Tide win, the leading shooters were Mya Howard, who had 17 points, and Katie Estill, who put up 21.
“We played very sloppy, probably due to the long layover between games during the holiday,” head coach Brian Todd said. “But we were very aggressive going to the basket.”
The Lady Tide did draw 42 foul shots, but were able to convert only 21 points for their efforts. Todd said he was also pleased with his bench’s effort.
Todd said, “Keshawdra Cooper and Kat Wingate gave us some valuable minutes tonight in place of Lexi Wrighton, who stayed in foul trouble all game.”
The coach said he feels his players will perform better when they get back into a regular routine.
With the wins, the Blue Tide and the Lady Tide improved their overall records to 1-1. On Tuesday, Long County was to play Groves in Garden City in each team’s first Regoin 2-AA matchup of the year.
Friday, Ludowici’s teams are at home against McIntosh County in region games. The Lady Tide tip off at 6:30 p.m. The boys follow at 8.