The Long County Lady Blue Tide got a big win when they hosted the Ware County Gators on Saturday, January 10 in a non-region contest. The Lady Tide trailed for almost the entire game and made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter to pull out their second straight in a 49-47 decision.

It was a low-scoring tilt in the first quarter as the Gators led 11-7, even after missing seven 3-point attempts. They hit two down the stretch to lead at the end of the quarter.

Late in the second quarter, the Gators connected on a three-point play to push their lead to 25-15.

The Tide’s first basket of the second half ended a five-minute drought that stretched back from halfway through the second quarter. Amire Saunders connected on a three-point play as they cut the Gators’ lead down inside 10 points before getting the ball back on a five-second violation.

The Tide trailed the Gators 37-30 going into the fourth quarter but they soon trailed by double digits again.

Late in the quarter, the Tide finally found some life as they started to cut into the Gators’ lead. Trailing 45-37, they went on a 9-0 run, with Zae Buckner’s 3-pointer and layup capping the rally.

The Lady Tide held a 46-45 lead, their first of the game, with 90 seconds left. With 38 seconds left, the Gators hit two free throws to go up 47-46 before Za’Leda Cullars hit two foul shots to put the Tide up 48-47 with 10 seconds left.

The Gators got down to the basket and a foul in the bonus gave them two chances to tie the game or take the lead. Both shots rimmed out as the Tide came down with the rebound and hit one more free throw to take the win.

Buckner led with 18 points while Cullars added 11 points with the game-winning free throws. The Tide move to 8-5 on the year with the win.

The boys took the court for a matchup of two of the better teams in the southeast Georgia area. The Gators had the Tide’s number, however, as they got in a shooting slump early in a 62-34 loss.

They were 2-of-9 from 3-point range in the first quarter with Zyi Holt being the only makes of the quarter. They trailed 13-12 going into the second quarter and then made just two buckets.

The Gators hit back-to-back 3s to push their lead out to 23-14 as the Tide trailed 25-16 at the half.

The Gators poured it on in the third quarter, stretching the lead to 12 before a late burst pushed the score to 43-24.

The Tide’s point total was their lowest scoring effort of the season and they fell to 12-3 on the season.