The Long County Blue Tide boys basketball team has now won eight straight games after pulling away from next-county rival Wayne County for 68-63 win Friday.

The Lady Blue Tide, looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Lady Yellow Jackets, fell 25-20.

It was a low-scoring affair as neither team hit a shot from the floor until midway through the quarter. In fact, the Jackets only made one bucket in the quarter while the Lady Tide were held scoreless after going 0-8 from the floor.

The Jackets went 5-of-12 from the free throw line and led 7-0 going into the second quarter. The Tide finally scored at the 7:06 mark in the second quarter on a Marcia Lloyd free throw.

Wayne County did not hit a shot in the second quarter until there was 4:39 left in the half as they took a 9-1 lead. The Tide finally hit a shot from the floor on an Amya Edwards layup with just 18 seconds left in the half. They missed their first 15 shots in the half.

The score was 11-5 going into the locker room at the half and the shooting woes were apparent for both teams. The Jackets were 0-of-15 from 3-point range in the first half.

The Jackets jumped out to a 10-point lead in the third quarter after scoring back-to-back layups. However, Za’leda Cullars led the Tide on a run of their own as they score five straight off two of her steals to make it 17-12 late in the third.

The Jackets finally hit a 3-pointers in the third as they led 22-13 going into the fourth quarter. The Jackets only scored three points in the fourth, but the Tide continued to struggle as they only got within five points of the lead.

The Tide fell, dropping their fourth straight to fall to 5-5 on the year. They will have two weeks off before hosting Groves on January 6.

The boys took the court looking to repeat their 20-point win over Wayne County from earlier in the season and it looked like they might do just that.

They opened the game on an 11-2 run, punctuated by Zyi Holt’s three-point play. They led 17-8 going into the second quarter.

The Tide have been hot from 3-point range all season, but this game was much different in the first half as they hit just one of their eight attempts.

They did build their lead to 32-20, thanks to a 6-0 run late in the half, but the Jackets closed on a 7-0 run to go into the locker room down by just five.

The Jackets stretched that run to 14-0 in the third quarter as they took a 34-32 lead with 6:20 to play in the third.

The run was 16-0 before the Tide finally scored. Ja’mere Martin hit a 3 less than a minute later to give the Tide a 39-38 lead and the back-and-forth game from there was on.

Jy’son Mallard hit another 3 to make it 42-38 before the quarter ended with the Tide up 47-43.

With 5:30 left in the game, the Jackets took a 52-51 lead on a 6-0 run before Holt tied the game on another three-point play. The Jackets hit a 3, just their third make of the game, before the Tide went on an 8-0 run to go up 64-59 with just over a minute left to play.

The Tide held on as they moved to 9-1 on the year on their eighth straight win. They will get a chance to play some big competition in their second consecutive appearance in the Lee County Roundball Christmas Tournament December 29-31.

Their first game will be against Worth County on December 29.