Two wins for Tift in 1st Winter Homecoming

Published 1:00 pm Sunday, January 8, 2023

TIFTON — How does Tift County basketball follow up on a pair of tough losses? Naturally with a pair of victories. The Blue Devils and Lady Devils swept their first ever Winter Homecoming Saturday, Jan 7, by buzzing past Thomas County Central.

The Lady Devils hit back-to-back 3-pointers as they defeated TCC’s Lady Yellow Jackets, 59-36. It was hard to tell what was more astonishing about the Devils’ 61-25 win: the 36-0 run or the astonishing 15-minute scoreless streak for the visitors during it.

Head coach Tommy Blackshear knew it was a long streak for his squad, but had not realized it was quite that long.

“Fifteen minutes?,” he said. “That’s really impressive.”

Thomas County Central played Tift tight for the first six minutes of the contest. Charlie Dunbar hit a pair of 3-pointers and, with 2:20 to in the quarter, made a basket to knot the count at 11.

Ty’Quan Mills drove to the hoop for two points 1:47. Little did anyone realize that TCC would never be in contention again.

Kobe Farrie and Mills pushed the lead to 18-11 to end the 1st. Midway through the 2nd, 10 more points were added. Mills had another 3 and Tyler Parker had back-to-back shots. There was a technical foul, too, and Will Clark sank the free throws.

Near the end of the half, there was a brief moment where the Jackets almost had a basket, almost only went eight scoreless minutes. However, the officials conferred and it was ruled to have not gone in. Tift outscored Central 15-0 in the 2nd for a 33-11 lead.

The Yellow Jackets missed free throws to start the 3rd. The next several minutes saw them frustrated time and time again as the basketball bounced off a rim and spun out.

McKyler Horne scored six points in two possessions. Mills scored 5 more. TCC again missed two free throws.

Finally, at 3:03 in the 3rd Jalan Wingfield popped in an offensive rebound. The scoreless streak ended. Since the 11-11 tie, Tift had scored 36 consecutive points.

Dunbar got two free throws to land to finish off the 3rd, but the Jackets couldn’t avoid a mercy rule. Tift was still ahead by 36 points, 51-15.

Blackshear turned the 4th quarter completely over to his most inexperienced players. They played TCC evenly, 10-10.

Fred White kept up his fearless play. Despite being the smallest player on the floor, he did not mind driving to the hoop and colliding with much bigger bodies. He scored 4 in the 4th. “He can score,” said Blackshear. “He’s not afraid at all.”

In a sea of scoring, Mills was the only man for Tift to finish he double figures, at 14 points. “He had a great night,” said Blackshear. Farrie and Horne scored 8 apiece.

It was a tough night all-around for Thomas County Central, who visited Tifton the night after a 75-73 loss at Northside (Warner Robins).

Dunbar scored 16 points. Ben Taylor scored 5 and Wingfield posted 4. They weren’t just the high scorers for the Yellow Jackets, but all of the scorers.

LADY DEVILS 59, TCC 36

The Blue Devils had a 36-0 run in their victory. The Lady Devils did not match that, but they were in even less danger.

O’ashia Cushion and Jimmya Cushion each made a 3-pointer in the opening 36 seconds.

When Shameria Wright knocked down two free throws at 3:35, the Lady Jackets were down 13-2. When Tia Floyd made their first shot from the floor, eight seconds in the 2nd frame, it was then a 19-5 contest.

Jimmya and O’ashia Cushion scored Tift’s first 11 points. Like the boys game, frustration for TCC boiled early, with a technical called after a reaction to a traveling call.

Up 19-2 after eight minutes, Tift stretched that to 25-5 when Faith Hillmon scored on an offensive rebound at 3:47 in the 2nd.

Following Hillmon’s basket, the game was played on much more even terms, albeit with the Lady Devils slowing down the pace by giving minutes to everyone.

Jimeylah Cushion and Makayla Bryant joined the 3-pointer parade in the 2nd. Makala Horne sent them to the locker rooms up 33-10.

A 5-0 run, capped by a Floyd 3-pointer, got Thomas County Central as close as they’d come in the 2nd half, 33-15.

The Lady Devils popped in seven 3-pointers over the final 16 minutes. Jimmya Cushion had three more. O’ashia Cushion had one in each of the last two quarters. Jimeylah Cushion and Trinity Hill provided the others. Tift made 13 as a team.

Nine of the 10 available players scored. The only two in the 2nd half to connect from the floor from inside the arc were Bryant and Makala Horne.

Aalerya Ponder scored 10 points for Thomas County Central, seven after intermission. Floyd scored 8 points.

Jimmya Cushion again led scoring with 17 points. O’ashia Cushion contributed 15.