LUDOWICI -- It is a critical time in the Long County Blue Tide basketball teams’ seasons as it is getting close to the region tournament. Both teams got a big win over region opponent Brantley County on Friday, Jan. 28.
The girls hit the court first and immediately went to work by ending the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 12-3 lead into the second quarter.
The Lady Tide looked to the three-point shot in the first quarter but missed their four attempts. However, Adryanna Harley and Makayla Raimer both hit shots down the stretch as they both scored five in the first.
Harley took over for the home team as she hit another big three in the second quarter and the Lady Tide extended their run to 14-0 since the 2:30 mark in the first quarter and went up 18-3.
The Herons worked their way back into the game as they went on a 9-2 run and made the score 20-12 with 1:44 left in the half. The Tide scored four more points and went up 24-12 at the half.
Brantley County worked the score back to 26-20 with a 6-0 run with 4:19 left in the third. The Tide answered the Herons’ run with a 6-0 run to end the quarter.
Harley hit her third three of the night and Jada Young hit a tough layup with a foul. The Lady Tide led 32-20 going into the final quarter.
The Lady Tide continued to dominate defensively as they only allowed four in the quarter. They moved on to the 42-24 win.
With the win, the Lady Tide move to 7-12 and 4-1 in the region and maintain first place in the region after Tattnall County defeated Pierce County.
Harley led the Tide with 12 points and was 3-4 from three. Young added 11 points, 10 in the second half, and eight rebounds.
After the Blue Tide celebrated Jamin Davis with a special ceremony, the boys took the court and looked to extend their win streak. It did not start the way they would have hoped as the Blue Herons quickly went up on the Tide.
The Tide went up 2-0, but the Herons hit back-to-back threes and hit another and-1 layup to go up 9-2. The Tide did outscore the Herons 10-4 down the stretch to make the score 13-12 going into the second, thanks to them going 2-3 from three with Davion Henderson and Christian Glenn both hitting big shots.
The second quarter was back and forth to start, but down 16-14, the Tide went on a 13-0 run to go up 27-16 with under three minutes left in the second.
That run was good enough to give the Tide a 32-18 lead as they only allowed two points from the Herons since trailing 16-14. The Tide outscored the Herons 26-5 in the second quarter.
Going into the half, Chuck Anderson had six points in the second quarter while Glenn was 2-3 from three-point range.
With a 14-point lead, the Tide were comfortable enough to roll in the second half as they never let the Herons get back within 10 points.
Trinity Gray had a big second half for the Tide as he scored all 10 of his points while adding seven rebounds.
The Tide moved on to a 66-52 win to get back to .500 on the season. They are now 9-9 and 2-3 in the region.
The Tide traveled to Ware County on Saturday for non-region matchup. They will host Pierce County on Tuesday, Feb. 1 in another big region game.