Tift teams enter Region 1-7A hoops tournament

Published 1:00 pm Monday, February 14, 2022

TIFTON — Region 1-7A’s basketball tournament is set for this week, with boys and girls teams determining seeds for the upcoming state tournament.

The tournament takes places on three nights, the last two at Tift County High. This is Tift’s first time hosting the region finale since 2018 and the Lady Devils and Blue Devils are in good shape for what is ahead. The Blue Devils clinched the No. 2 seed Friday with a 42-36 win over Camden County. The Lady Devils technically secured theirs weeks ago, said head coach Julie Conner, but left no doubt by winning over Camden (54-31) to finish 5-1 in 1-7A.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” said head coach Tommy Blackshear about finishing at No. 2. This allows them to avoid playing the early game and, even better, if “We win on Thursday, we get to host a state playoff game.” That honor goes to the top two teams at the end of the tournament.

The first contests are Tuesday, featuring Colquitt County and Camden, the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds. Being the third seed for both boys and girls, Colquitt will host these games in Moultrie. Winners advance to play the Lowndes girls and Tift boys on Thursday in Tifton.

Friday will be the region finals, with the Lady Devils and Lowndes Vikings to play Thursday’s victors. The Vikings finished region with a 6-0 record.

By virtue of sweeping Lowndes, the Lady Devils secured the top spot Jan. 28. They lost to Colquitt the next week and could have also lost to Camden.

“We would have won the tiebreaker,” said Conner, “but that isn’t the way we wanted to do it.”

“We had to get back on our winning ways,” she said. Tift goes into region with a 15-7 record.

To be where all they need to host is to win one game, said Blackshear, “on our own floor, is a pretty good position to be in.” Especially how they started the 2021-22 campaign.

In early December, the Blue Devils being the No. 2 seed in the region might have seemed an impossibility. The team started 0-6, the first time Blackshear has ever faced such a challenge. Since then, they are 12-6, 3-3 in 1-7A.

“Our defense has been getting better and better and better,” said Blackshear. “That has what has been saving us.” During that early skid, the Devils gave up an average of 57 points per game. Since then, they’ve lopped 13 off that, surrendering a mere 44 points per contest. “Our defense has been pretty steady the last month or so.”

Blackshear knows his offense will have to step up more. Henry Gebhart was the big scorer against Camden with 15 points, with Will Clark adding 8. It wasn’t just the number of points for Gebhart, but when and how he scored them.

“He hit some big free throws,” Blackshear said. Camden whittled Tift’s lead down to two points in the fourth. Gebhart made four straight from the line to put it away. The 15 points were a season high for him.

A win Thursday would put the Devils’ record at 13-12. They haven’t been over .500 this season.

The Lady Devils outscored Camden 21-5 in the third quarter, said Conner. Mya Cushion scored 16 for Tift and, like Gebhart, netted a season high.

Tift swept the championships in 2021, which were played at Lowndes. The Lady Devils are seeking their third consecutive title, which would be a first in school history — for both Tift County and Tifton. Since becoming Tift in 1962, the Angels/Lady Devils have won 12 region titles. The Blue Devils have secured 20.

Other schools have not had the same fortunes as Tift.

The Vikettes of Lowndes have 25 region titles, but numbers drop off quickly for the rest of the region’s boys and girls teams over their histories. Lowndes’ boys have only won region once, in 2005. Colquitt County’s boys have a single title, won in 1983.

The Lady Packers have five region titles, the last in 2019. Camden’s Lady “Cats have two, the last in 2003. Camden’s boys have only earned region championships in 2016 and 2020.

Lowndes’ Vikettes went 4-2 in the region, their only losses to Tift. Colquitt went 3-3, sweeping Camden and splitting with Tift. Camden finished 0-6. Beyond Lowndes’ 6-0, the boys standings saw Tift go 3-3, sweeping Camden and splitting with Colquitt. The Packers were 2-4, one win each over Camden and Tift. Camden went 1-5.