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Tide boys lose to Bucs in OT
Lady Tide woes continue with loss to Pirates
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The Long County High School boys basketball team continued its season-long uphill battle Tuesday night, losing to McIntosh County in overtime.

With two minutes left in regulation, the Blue Tide had a 10-point lead over the Pirates, who have not lost a Region 2-AA game. However, turnovers and loose play caused Long County to lose its lead and allowed the Buccaneers to tie things up at 63. During overtime, McIntosh outscored the Tide 12-7 and walked away with a 75-70 victory.

"We just didn’t close them out. Turnovers late, still missing free throws, no momentum—we were up, but over the last two or three minutes of the game, we just didn’t close them out," said Long County coach Deshon Brock. The coach, however, did credit his team for playing solidly early on.

"In the first half, we played probably our best man-to-man defense that we have all year," he said. "We played good through the most of the game. We have to get the ball rolling by the region tournament. Everyone is beatable in our region, we just have to get it together and start finishing (our games)."

The Blue Tide’s top scorers were and Justin Boyd with 27 points and Norman Thompson with 25.

With the loss, Long County’s overall record dropped to 4-9 and their Region 2-AA mark is 3-3, putting them in a tie for fourth place in the region with Pierce County (6-6). Benedictine Military School (11-4) and McIntosh (8-5) are still undefeated in the region at 6-0, and Appling County (9-4) is holding the third spot with a 4-2 mark.

The Tide will take on region opponent Appling County tonight in Baxley. The Pirates won the last outing between the two teams, 78-71; however, the Tide has won three of the last four games between the two.

The Pirates are averaging 56 points on offense and allowing 53 points. The Blue Tide are putting up 65 points of offense, which is No. 1 in Region 2-AA, but the team is also allowing 68 points, which is dead last in the region for defense.

Tonight’s game is at 7:30.

Lady Tide

The Long County High School girls basketball team lost its 11th game of the season Tuesday to McIntosh County.

At the end of the first period, the Lady Tide had fallen behind, 6-16. Long County wasn’t able to keep up with the strong Buccaneers team from Darien. At the half, McIntosh was up 37-17.

In the third quarter, the Lady Bucs extended their lead by 37 points, but the Ludowici squad battled and even outscored the visitors 10-9 in the final period. But when all was said and done, the Blue Tide lost 72-36.

Jessica Bryant led Long County in scoring with 10 points.

"Jessica is the type of athlete who will do anything she is asked to do, and do it 100 miles per hour. She hit a couple of three-pointers and some big baskets for us," said Lady Tide coach Ryan Bailey.

He also said he was pleased with Rhea Rose and Jameka Boyd’s performances.

Though Long County is struggling, Bailey is optimistic the team can improve by the playoffs.

"We are trying to work on our defense in preparation for the region tournament," he said.

With the loss, the Lady Tide drops to 1-11 overall and 1-5 in Region 2-AA. The win improved the Lady Bucs’ record to 6-7 overall and 4-2 in the region.

The Lady Tide have another difficult game tonight in Baxley against Appling County.

The Lady Pirates are in second place in Region 2-AA with a 5-1 record and an overall mark of 7-4.
They have won the last five games against the Lady Tide, including a tough 59-48 victory last year. On offense, Appling is averaging 54 points and giving up 42 points on defense. Long County is putting up 32 points on offense and allowing 68 points.

Tonight’s game starts at 6.

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