The Long County Blue Tide boys basketball team is one win away from their first region championship since 2022 after defeating the Beach Bulldogs 58-45 in the semifinals of the region 3-AAA tournament Friday night.
It was a chaotic night of high tensions in the second half, but the Tide took a 14-point lead into the locker room and never led by less than 11 points for the rest of the night.
The boys game followed a back-and-forth third meeting between the Lady Blue Tide and the Liberty County Lady Panthers in the second semifinal game of the girls’ bracket, with the Lady Panthers prevailing 48-44, sweeping all three matchups this season.
It looked as though the Lady Tide would finally beat the Panthers as they opened the first quarter on an 11-3 run and the Panthers could not buy a bucket.
They opened the game 0-of-18 from the field, missing every shot they took in the first quarter. The Panthers’ struggles continued into the second quarter as they missed their first seven shots before finally hitting a layup halfway through the second quarter.
They went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 17-17, eventually going into the locker room tied with the Lady Tide 19-19.
The Panthers took their first lead of the game in the third quarter, going up 23-19. They built an eight-point lead in the third and the Lady Tide never recovered.
The Lady Tide fell to the Panthers 48-44. They will now play Groves on Saturday in the third place game while the Panthers will take on Jenkins in the championship game.
The Tide boys took the court against the Bulldogs in a matchup of the co-Coaches of the Year in region 3-AAA.
It was a back-and-forth game early on with Zyi Holt taking command for the Tide, scoring seven of the team’s 13 points in the quarter. The Tide led 13-11 going into the second quarter.
The Bulldogs went on their only real run of the game as they took a 16-15 lead with 6:45 left until halftime. However, they proceeded to not make another shot from the field for the remainder of the quarter as they Tide went on a 16-1 run to close the half.
The Tide led 31-17 and that double-digit lead was enough for them to never really let the Bulldogs back into the game. They led 43-27 going into the fourth quarter, but things got chippy from there.
Three technical fouls were assessed in the fourth quarter with interventions taking place from law enforcement late in the quarter.
The Tide held on to win and, more importantly, avoided any ramifications from the extracurricular events throughout the game.
Ja’mere Martin and Holt both had 14 points for the Tide and Holt was 2-of-3 from 3-point range and added seven rebounds.
The Tide will play in the region championship game for the first time since 2023 as they take on Calvary Day on Saturday.