C.J. Copeland looks for an opening.

TIFTON – The Tift County Lady Devils moved on, but the Class AAAAAAA defending basketball champion Blue Devils were defeated Saturday in the first round of the state tournament.

The Lady Devils defeated Pebblebrook, 50-38, while the Devils were eliminated by Campbell, 72-64.

“They were just a little too much,” said Tift head coach Chris Wade.

Wracked by injuries in the Region 2 tournament last week, a Spartans team at full strength played much better than their fourth seed.

The last eight minutes of the game were a rollercoaster. Tift trailed, 45-40, at the end of the third. Three minutes later, they were up eight points. Campbell took over the lead for good at 2:22.

Montavious Terrell sank the first of a series of five-three pointers that gave Tift the lead. Terrell was assisted by C.J. Copeland at 6:55, cutting the score to 45-43. Campbell responded with a Kiya Randolph drive to the basket, but on an inbounds play under their goal, the Devils went to Copeland, who sank a three from near his own bench.

Three three-pointers in a row came, one from Marquavious Johnson and two more from Terrell, the last at 4:50, which gave them a 55-47 lead.

Instead of folding, the Spartans came back. Four free throws from Donovan Grant and a basket and free throw from Randolph put them back ahead at 57-55 at 3:05. A Johnson drive to the basket re-tied it 20 seconds later, but they could not take advantage of a one-and-one to go back ahead.

A Randolph bucket put the Spartans ahead permanently at 59-57 at 2:22. Before Tift could respond, there was a steal in the backcourt and Brandon Deravine turned it into a four-point lead. Campbell pulled ahead further, with Terrell Burden free shots at 1:08 providing a 67-57 advantage. Tift got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“We didn’t do the things we needed to do,” Wade said. When Campbell cut off Tift’s outside shooting, he encouraged them to drive to the basket. Unfortunately, they were unable to take advantage.

Wade was proud of his team’s comeback.

“They did the things we needed to do,” he said.

Rashod Bateman hit a three-pointer in the middle of the first quarter for a 7-5 Tift lead. Little else went their way for the remainder of the frame. Burden, who Wade said was more impressive in person than on film, drove for one basket, then picked off a pass for another.

Campbell was ahead 19-15 after a quarter.

Terrell opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, then a three-point play by J.J. McClain gave the Devils a 21-19 lead. They stayed ahead the rest of the half, taking advantage of matchups. Terrell frequently drove the lane, drew attention and passed to a teammate. They went to the locker room ahead 31-29 after Grant beat the buzzer for Campbell.

The third quarter saw three ties, the last at 39-39, Campbell going into the fourth on a 9-1 run.

Terrell scored 23 points in his last game as a Tift County Blue Devils. Bateman, also a senior, added 16 points. Johnson had nine.

Campbell had four players in double figures. Randolph led the way with 26, Deravine scored 17, Grant had 14 and Burden had 12.

“It wasn’t like a slouch came in and beat us,” said Wade. “They have quality players.

LADY DEVILS 50 PEBBLEBROOK 38

Tift led the entire way Saturday, but did not pull away from the Lady Falcons until the last 90 seconds of the contest.

Free throws from Cameron Brown and Azaria Alexander cut a six-point Tift lead to three with 1:53 remaining. Then Tift started going to the free throw line.

Nicky Jones hit single free throws in two trips for Tift to go up 41-36. When Pebblebrook still could not score, Destiny Johnson made four more.

Milana Holmes finally scored for Pebblebrook on a drive with 34 seconds left, but that only sliced the Lady Devils’ lead to 45-38. Tift immediately responded with a basket that saw Holmes foul out with 21 seconds left.

Free throws by Cali Conner gave the locals an 11-point lead, allowing them to coast from there.

Three-pointers and missed free throws dug a deep hole for Pebblebrook early.

Reyes made two from behind the arc in the first two minutes of the game and when Kaysie Harrelson was good from deep at 4:06, it was an 11-0 contest. They still held the 11-point lead at 17-6 at the end of the first.

During the opening frame, the Lady Falcons went to the free throw stripe five times and did not get any. They missed their first 11 attempts from the line and were 2-of-14 for the half. They were much stronger – 9-10 – afterwards, but the damage had already been done.

Jones assisted Harrelson for a 22-6 lead, their largest of the night. Meliyah White hit a three-pointer to start a 6-0 run and after a Jones three, answered with three more points. It was 25-15 at the break.

Alexander and Holmes worked the lead down to single digits in the third quarter and midway through the fourth quarter, closed it to 37-31. The Lady Devils were fortunately to take advantage of their free throw attempts to hold on for the win.

Lady Devils head coach Julie Conner credited the defensive pressure with keeping Pebblebrook’s shooting percentage down. She said she mixed and matched defenses.

Reyes’ 12 led Tift, who also got nine each from Jones and Johnson.

Holmes was the only Lady Falcons player to score more than 10 points. She had 12.

By beating Pebblebrook, Tift earns the right to face McEachern in the second round. McEachern, the four-time defending state champion, won over Etowah 71-18 Friday.

Obviously aware of her opponent’s reputation, Conner smiled and said, “We’ll take it.”

Conner said the game had been set for Thursday at 6 p.m. The game will be in Powder Springs.