The Lady Tigers bounced back from a 21-point loss Dec. 15 against Glynn by handing the Lady Brunswick Pirates a 28-point loss Dec. 18. Not to be outdone, the Tigers beat the Pirates by 40 points.

Lady Tigers 56, Lady Pirates 28
The Lady Tigers established an early lead and refused to allow the Lady Pirates to gain any momentum.
The tempo of the first period was rather slow to start. But as the points accumulated, the Lady Tigers’ tempo stepped up. By halftime, the Lady Tigers were leading 29-8.
The Lady Pirates had several scoring opportunities but could not make the shots until very late in the fourth period. If it was the Lady Pirates’ move toward a rally, it came much too late. With 2:58 left in the game, the Lady Pirates were down by 30 points (49-19).
“We played completely opposite of how we played last Saturday against Glynn,” Faye Baker, Lady Tiger head coach said. “Our intensity level was back up and I was very pleased with the way we played defense tonight. I thought we did a really good job and were real effective defensively.”
Despite the substantial point lead the Lady Tigers maintained throughout the game, Bakers said her offense remains an area of concern.
“We still need to work on our offense, especially our man offense and transitioning from defense to offense,” she said. “We realize we need to work on that some more. We did some things the other day at practice to help out defensively and it seemed to be effective. Now we need to work on a few things offensively and, hopefully, that will be effective for the next game. Overall, I was pleased with everyone’s effort.”
The Lady Tigers hit the road for the holidays to play at the Peach State Classic Invitational in Atlanta. Baker said the experience is a great learning tool and it helps them to prepare for state playoffs.
“We play West Lake High School on Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m.” she said. “We don’t know anything about them, which is a good thing. If we were to do well enough and make the state playoffs that is generally where you would see teams that you don’t know a whole lot about. It will be a game of adjustments based on what we see and making adjustments as the game goes on and that is a big challenge for us. Hopefully we will be up for that test.”

Scoring
Seandre Lee 14
Stevonna Scott 11
Brytnii Speight 6
Jammie McLemore 6
Quintunya Chapman 6
Jasmine Alonso 5
Camille Jackson 3
Raven Anderson 2
Candice Curry 2
Shakayla Kennedy 1

Tigers 76, Pirates 36
It was a quick paced first and second period with the Tigers and Pirates exchanging basket for basket. The first period ended in an 11-11 tie and the second ended with the Tigers pulling ahead by 33 points.
After the halftime break, the Tigers opened up their passing skills and revved up the tempo leaving the Pirates behind in a trail of dust. They blocked or stole nearly every scoring opportunity away from the Pirates, eventually sinking their ship and stealing the Pirates’ booty with a 76-36 win.
“The kids exploded in the second half,” Tiger head coach said. “Our kids played great individual and team defense.”
Jones felt both teams seemed hesitant and sluggish the first half of the game.
“The first half we didn’t play good team ball but in the second half they came together,” he said. “We did change some things to ignite some energy. It was an outstanding defensive effort and good teamwork. Jarvis Wadsworth and Robert Sims had a great night passing the ball. But you can’t call out just one player it was a total team effort.”
The Christmas break means more basketball for the Tigers as they head out to the Peach State Classic Invitational. Jones said he looks forward to the challenges.
“We open against Tri-cities from East Point Georgia. I played them several times; historically they have an outstanding basketball program.”
Jones said the Invitational was a double-elimination tournament that exposes basketball players to legitimately tough opponents from throughout the nation.
“Most of the Georgia teams are from Metro Atlanta, a few from around the state and then you have teams from all over like Miami, New York, Philly, North Carolina and Tennessee,” he said.
The tournament is being hosted at Morehouse College, giving Jones an opportunity to visit former Tiger player Justin Monroe who is at Morehouse on scholarship.

Scoring
Robert Sims 18
Brandon Hayes 16
Kentrell Hargrove 8
Jarvis Wadsworth 7  
Daniel Materne 6
DeAndre Ross 4
Nathaniel Gooding 4
Antonio Allen 4
Domonique Everett 3
Derek Nesbitt 2
Tony Coston 2
Kyle Bell 2

The Tigers return to the courts Friday Jan.4, at Windsor Forest. Tip-off is 6:30 p.m.
Contact the writer at pleon@coastalcourier.com or sports@coastalcourier.com