Make that 17-1 for the Valdosta Wildcats.

Tift County held the previously unbeaten Wildcats to 57 points — well under their average of 85 points per game, winning 61-57 Friday night at the TCHS Arena.

“We did some really good things defensively, I thought they (Valdosta) played well. But so did the Blue Devils,” Tift head coach John Spurlin said.

After Valdosta opened up the game on a 6-0 run, Tift County caught fire against the 2-3 zone of the Wildcats.

The Devils went on a 16-2 run over the final six minutes of the first quarter, with baskets by Jerome Graydon, Dejour Mitchell, and Darius Davis.

Davis ended the quarter by scoring the last seven points the period.

“Davis was outstanding. Rebounding the ball, defending Jay Rome. He was great,” Spurlin said.

The Blue Devils extended their eight point lead to 15, after a basket by Adonis Whitehead.

After the Cats’ Rapha Weldon made a shot to pull Valdosta within eight, Whitehead threw down a huge dunk to extend Tift County’s lead to ten with 1:25 remaining in the half.

Valdosta outscored Tift County 16-11 in the third quarter, bringing the Blue Devils’ lead down to five at the start of the fourth quarter.

Several times in the final period, Valdosta would get to within three points, but each time, the Blue Devils would get a key basket.

Finally, Tift got a steal to and a free throw by Mitchell to seal the game for the Blue Devils.

Davis ended the game with 18 points for Tift County, and Mitchell also had 18 for the Blue Devils.

Jeremy Fountain led Valdosta with 15 points, while Jay Rome ended the game with only 12 points — well below the sophomore’s average on the season.

Tift County improves to 12-3, and more importantly — 4-0 in region play, while Valdosta falls to 6-1 in region action.

In the Lady Devils 48-40 victory, senior Jessi Byrnes finished with 12 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks, and a steal as Tift County held off a pesky Valdosta team.

It was a game of runs, as Valdosta used a 10-0 run at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter to take a 12-6 lead.

After that Valdosta run, Tift went on a 13-3 run with baskets by Byrnes, Amber McKenzie, and Tionna Barnes.

The basket by Barnes with 3:47 left in the half gave Tift a lead that the Lady Devils would not relinquish.

Valdosta would come back and tie the game at 19 on a free throw by Alicia Crawford, but in the final 47 seconds, Tift would get three baskets to extend their lead to six at the half.

Raven Denson stole a Lady Wildcat pass and converted the layup, then as the buzzer sounded, Dreka Burgess hit a shot to put the Lady Devils up by a 25-19 score.

Tift County would extend their lead to 11 points with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter on a basket by Barnes, but Valdosta would make one more run.

Crawford hit back-to-back three pointers, then a free throw, and LaKrishna Hale hit a shot to cut the Lady Devils’ lead to one with 1:16 remaining in the quarter.

But Burgess stepped up again for Tift.

Jessica Covington stole the inbounds pass by Valdosta; Covington found McKenzie who made a nice pass to Burgess for the basket with five seconds remaining in the quarter.

Tift County extended their lead in the fourth quarter to 13 points with 1:05 remaining in the game, before Tift head coach Julie Conner emptied her bench.

Besides Byrnes, McKenzie led Tift with 17 points, while Covington added seven, and Barnes chipped in with six for the Lady Devils (8-7, 2-2).

Crawford led all scorers with 18 points for the Lady Cats (7-8, 2-5).

Tift County will be in action on the road Tuesday night, as the Lady Devils and Devils travel to Warner Robins to take on Northside.

Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.