The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams were back on the court as they hosted the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers on Monday, November 9 in their preseason scrimmage game.
The Lady Tide took the court first and fell to MCA 42-28. It was a back-and-forth first quarter with neither team getting the advantage as the score was tied 8-8 going into the second.
However, both teams went cold from the floor in the second quarter as no points were scored for the first 4:30 of the quarter before the Buccaneers hit one of two free throws to go up 9-8.
A basket was finally made in the final seconds of the as the Buccaneers scored on a layup. This was the only field goal made in the second quarter as the teams combined for a 1-of-11 shooting stat from the floor in the quarter and the Buccaneers led 13-9 going into the locker room.
The Tide finally made a bucket in the third quarter as they made a layup at the 5:50 mark of the third and were down 13-11. However, the Buccaneers seemed to get into a groove as they started to pull away.
The Buccaneers pulled up by as much as nine points in the third and led 29-20 going into the fourth before pulling further away.
They led 40-22 late in the game and ended up winning 42-28. The Lady Tide will open the regular season on Tuesday, November 17 on the road against Robert Toombs Christian Academy.
The boys took the floor and seemingly looked to get revenge for the football team having to forfeit to the Buccaneers earlier in the year and they certainly did so with a 101-41 romp.
They trailed 8-6 early in the first quarter, but after outscoring the Buccaneers 11-2 down the stretch, the rout was on.
Jy’son Mallard scored 24 points in the first half, 18 of them coming in the second quarter. The Tide built a big lead in the second quarter, allowing just eight points from the Buccaneers, as they led 41-18 at the half.
Mallard kept pouring it on in the third quarter, scoring another 10 points while Kelvin Hayes and transfer Jaylan Knight got in on the action and started scoring at will.
The Tide led 73-27 going into the mercy-rule shortened fourth quarter. Mallard capped off his night with six more points to eclipse his career high with 40 points before he sat on the bench for the rest of the game.
With just seconds left on the clock, Kai Samuel took the ball down the court and hooped home a layup to put the Tide over the triple digit mark. This is the first time the Tide have scored over 100 points in the LCHS gym that opened in the fall of 2012.
Mallard led the way with 40 points. Hayes had 22 points and seven assists while Knight had a double-double in his Tide debut with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tide will be off the court for a few weeks as they prepare for their season opener: a matchup with next county opponent Bradwell in the Savannah Hoops Shootout at Enmarket Arena on Saturday, November 28.