In the craziness that has been the 2020-2021 sporting season, the Long County Lady Blue Tide found some good in the middle of the chaos. Two weeks ago, they were shut down due to a positive exposure to COVID-19. Despite not playing or even being able to practice in that time, the team looked like they never missed a beat when they hosted Brantley County in a makeup game on Monday, January 25.
Ahead of the game, the team honored its six senior players: Jalynn Drake, Madison Giron, Rebekah Gordon, Jahniya Hutchinson, Zyrionna Mathis, and Tiniya Smith. The team moved their senior night festivities to this night due to their being on quarantine.
The Tide jumped out to a 9-1 lead and really never looked back from that early run. Of their 13 points in the first period, sophomore forward Jada Young scored six of them and pulled down five rebounds. Smith also connected on a tough And-1 play to boost her team as they led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Tide never led by less than eight for the rest of the game. They continued to roll to a dominant performance. With an eight-point lead late in the half, Long County went on a 10-0 run to go up 31-13 before the Herons hit a last-minute three to make the score 31-16 at the half.
Young had already had a double-double in the first half after recording 10 points and 10 rebounds. She continued to roll in the second half, pulling down five more rebounds and scoring seven more points in the third quarter as the Tide still lead 45-29 going into the final period, despite the Herons showing more fight.
The Blue Tide boys team were not playing, but they created a small but mighty student section and implored the Lady Tide to score 50 points. They finally got it as Giron connected on two free throws to get her team to 51 on the scoreboard.
Sophomore Adryanna Harley hit a big three point shot to extend the Tide’s lead as they moved on to the 56-38 victory.
The Long County Lady Blue Tide basketball team took the court for the second time in as many nights on Tuesday, January 27 as they hosted the Pierce County Bears. Their second consecutive game did not go as well as the first as the Bears dominated from the opening possession.
Multiple turnovers and early foul trouble seemed to doom the Lady Tide in the first quarter as the Bears worked on the floor to build a big lead. The Tide only had one bucket, an early one from Tiniya Smith in the quarter.
The Bears hit three straight three point shots and converted a rare four-point play to build a 10-2 lead over the Lady Tide. The Bears led 24-2 at the end of the first period.
The second quarter did not go much better for the Lady Tide as the Bears continued to add to their lead, outscoring Long County 17-7 in the quarter and holding a 41-9 lead at the half.
Pierce County continued to show they are the top team in Region 1-AAA as they kept pouring it on in the third quarter, going up 58-15. This led to the fourth quarter being shortened due to the GHSA mercy rule. The Bears won by a final of 67-17.
The Lady Tide are now 2-8 and 1-2 in the region. They will try to rebound from this tough loss as they travel to Nahunta on Friday, January 29 to face off against Brantley County, who they defeated on Monday at home.
Young finished the night with a career game, going for 21 points and 20 rebounds, showing she will likely be a dominant force for years to come. Junior Makayla Raimer also finished with 11 points and six assists while Harley had nine points and went 50 percent from three-point range.