The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams took a break from region play to host former region foe McIntosh County Academy on Saturday, January 21. It was a special night as the Tide crowned their homecoming court and rolled the Buccaneers in a sweep, with the girls winning 5-17 and the boys winning 63-56.
Coming off a dominant 65-7 win over Groves Friday night, the Lady Tide took the court looking to replicate that performance. They opened the first quarter on a 10-1 run, going 2-of-4 from 3 with Adryanna Harley and Imani Pouncey each hitting one.
Things slowed over the last three minutes of the quarter as the Lady Tide led 15-5 going into the second.
Makinzie Moody broke the scoreless run in the second quarter with a layup nearly two minutes in. That seemed to be all the Lady Tide needed to spark a 13-4 second quarter as they led 28-9 at the half, completing a six-quarter run where they allowed a total of 16 points.
Junior Amiyah Simpkins came on strong in the second half, hitting three of her four made 3-point shots as the Tide rolled in the half. Allowing just eight points - one in the fourth - as they cruised to their 11th win of the year.
The Lady Tide are now 11-6 on the year and will host the Saint Vincent’s Academy Saints on Tuesday, January 24 in another key region game.
After three members of the Tide basketball team were named to the homecoming court, the boys game tipped off and it was a close one for the first three quarters.
The Tide took a quick 9-5 lead in the first half of the first period but the Bucs went on a 5-0 run to take a 10-9 lead.
Tide junior Chuck Anderson connected on a tough three-point play to give his team a 12-9 lead with 1:15 left in the first and the Tide held on to lead 17-14 going into the second.
The Bucs opened on a 9-4 run to go up 23-21, but the Tide turned their luck around and went on a 10-2 run to go up 31-25. MCA closed the gap to 31-30 at the half.
Two free throws from the Bucs at the 5:36 mark of the third quarter gave them a 32-31 lead, but a Chris Hatfield layup gave the Tide the lead again.
From there, the Tide never trailed again, though the Buccaneers did get within two points before the Tide led 45-41 at the end of the third.
Midway through the fourth, the Tide started to pull away after CJ Glenn hit three free throws after a foul and Anderson hit his only 3-point attempt of the night to put the Tide up double digits.
This win was a bounce back from the Friday night loss to Groves as the Tide moved 10-9 on the year. They will be off until next Friday, January 27 as they host the Savannah Country Day Hornets in a big region game.
That game also will be Tariq Carpenter Night as the Tide will honor Carpenter by retiring his number 2 high school jersey.