The Tigers, Panthers and Long County Blue Tide hit the road on Friday night as wind down region games before the playoffs start Feb. 27.
Tigers at Windsor Forest
The Tigers’ road trip was relatively short as they headed to the Knight’s gym at Windsor Forest High School.
Coach Faye Baker and the Lady Tigers got their eighth straight win, defeating the Lady Knights 60-35. It was the second straight victory by a wide point margin. Last week they defeated the Lady Bulldogs of Beach by 34 to regain the No. 1 spot in region 3-AAAAA.
Baker had feared her squad peaked too early as they allowed two back-to-back losses just after the Christmas break, but adjustments to the starting five and an improved output from her reserves have shifted the game back into their style of play. With the victory, the Lady Tigers continue to control the region, but Beach and Camden are close behind.
The Tiger boys fought to the bitter end but the Knights kept shooting from the outside to stay ahead for the 65-52 victory, dropping Pete Woodard’s squad to 9-12 overall and 6-6 in the region. According to GaSports.com the Tigers cling to fourth place as of Saturday morning.
Panthers at Burke County
The Panthers’ bus ride was longer. They played the Burke County Bears. The bus ride back was even longer both squads lost their region match.
Coach Willie Graham and the Panthers took a 2-point loss from the Bears (55-53) to drop to 7-3 in region 3-AAA. Overall they are 16-4 and in second place behind Washington County. The final score from the girls’ game was not available, though reports are that it was a lopsided loss.
Tide
The Long County Blue Tide boys’ team moved into the number 10 spot in the GACA coaches rankings this week, securing that spot by picking up their 13th win in a row. The boys manhandled Brantley County 75-39 on Friday in Nahunta. In the game, the Ludowici boys had two players attain double-doubles. Jimmy Bacon had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Donte Brown led all scorers with 14 points and had 10 rebounds.
The Lady Tide had their "Big Game" with Brantley County. Unfortunately they lost, 61-46. With the loss the Blue girls fell out of the top spot in the 2-AA Region, and now the Lady Herons have that honor. The current standings are Brantley County (17-3) on top with an 11-3 record, Long County (12-8) securely in second with a 10-3 mark, Pierce County (10-8) sits in third with an 8-5 record, Jeff Davis (14-8) is at 8-6, and Appling County (9-11) rounds out the top five sitting at 6-6.
The Panthers and Tide played again yesterday. The Panthers hosted Baldwin. It was the Panthers senior day game. The Tide was set to host McIntosh Academy. The scores of those games will be posted on the Courier’s Prep Sports Web-site at:
http://sports.coastalcourier.com/prep-sports/
Tide information compiled by Mike Riddle