The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams got big wins on Friday, January 27 as they hosted the Savannah Country Day Hornets. The Lady Tide used a fourth quarter run to pull off a big 57-43 upset, while the boys continued to pull away throughout the game to roll to a 73-53 victory.

In the girls game, both teams went back and forth in the first half with the Lady Tide taking an 11-8 lead on a late 5-0 run.

Thanks to junior Amiyah Simpkins’ big second quarter, the Tide built a 26-20 lead late in the second quarter. However, the Hornets worked their way back into the game and hit a layup at the buzzer to make the score 26-24 going into the break.

The third quarter was no different from the first two as it was another back and forth run for the Lady Tide and Hornets. The Tide scored just nine points, but held the Hornets to eight as the score stood at 35-32 going in the final quarter.

This is where the back and forth nature of the game went out the window as the Lady Tide opened on a 16-2 run, building as much as a 17-point lead midway through the quarter.

Senior Adryanna Harley added to her game high total of 17 points with nine points in the fourth. During the run, Simpkins connected on a tough layup for a three-point play that blew the game open for the Tide.

With the win, the Tide move to 13-6 and 8-3 in the region, putting them in a great position to finish the season as at least the second seed in the region tournament. Harley also had five assists while Simpkins had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds while reeling in another seven assists.

Long County honored Tariq Carpenter between the boys and girls games by retiring his high school number 2 jersey, much like they did last year with Jamin Davis’s number 25 jersey.

The boys took the court and knew they needed to win to stay in contention for a top spot in the region tournament. It was a close game in the first as the Tide could not pull away until the final shot of the quarter.

Junior Chuck Anderson hit a big 3 from nearly half court at the buzzer as the Tide led 17-10 going into the second. From that point, the Tide never led by fewer than seven points.

The Tide used two big 3s by freshman Zyi Holt to maintain their lead as they led 34-27 going into halftime.

The third quarter proved to be the difference maker for the Blue Tide as they used a 7-0 run early to build a 14-point lead. The Hornets cut it to 10 by the end of the third, but the damage had been done.

Junior Roderick Randall dropped 10 points in the fourth while senior Christian Glenn added five of his 10 second half points as the Tide eventually built a 20-point lead.

Five Blue Tide players scored in double digits as Glenn scored 10, senior Jamel Brimlett, Anderson and Holt each had 11 and Randall led with a double-double, 19 points and 10 rebounds. The team made seven 3s with Holt going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

The Tide are now 11-9 and 4-5 in the region. They will be back at home on Tuesday, January 31 to host the Savannah Christian Red Raiders.