Caden Grier brings the ball up the floor for the Panthers against Fullington.

CHULA — Tiftarea Academy won three of four games against Fullington Academy and Terrell Academy over Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday’s nights contests with Terrell were District 3-AAA contests. The Panthers won, 49-48, their first win over Terrell since December 2018. The Lady Eagles from Dawson won over Tiftarea, 65-42.

Monday night, both Tiftarea squads won by large margins. The Lady Panthers earned a 60-44 victory while the boys scored a season high in points in their 75-55 win.

The close score against Terrell Academy saw late heroics were an Andrew Connell steal and J.R. Walker defensive rebound.

Up 49-47 in the last minute, Connell swiped the ball from Terrell and the Panthers drained nearly all of the shot clock before Terrell got it back on a defensive rebound.

The Eagles had a chance to tie at the free throw line, but making the first shot, missed the second. Walker came down with the rebound and was fouled with less than one second. Tiftarea got the ball in to end the game.

Terrell led 14-10 after a quarter, the Panthers outscored them 17-10 in the 2nd. Walker scored in the post to break a 14-14 tie.

The contest stayed close in the 2nd half, Tiftarea never taking more than a five-point lead. Connell wowed the crowd in the 3rd with a 3-pointer from NBA distance, a good five feet beyond the top of the key.

Ben Smith and Connell each scored 12 points in the game, Thomas Coogle adding 9.

Amelia Mercer netted exactly half of Tiftarea’s 42 points against the Lady Eagles. They trailed 22-8 at the end of the 1st, 32-18 at halftime. Hannah Grace Murphy added to the Lady Panthers’ total with 8.

Two routs came out of the Fullington scores, though the Lady Panthers’ game was close for more than half.

Tiftarea had a 28-26 lead at intermission, which further closed to one point (31-30) during the 3rd.

Leading 43-40 going into the 4th, the Lady Panthers pulled away on a 10-2 run that featured two Mercer 3-pointers. A third put the game out of reach at 56-44.

Mercer led the way with 19 points with Isabel Fernandez joining her in double-digits at 11.

It was raining threes for Tiftarea against the Fullington boys. The Panthers hit 12 of them, nine in the 1st half alone. Six were courtesy of Elijah Smith, with three apiece by Connell and Ben Smith.

The contest was a runaway from the start, 21-11 at the end of the 1st, 47-22 at the break and near mercy rule territory, courtesy of a 62-35 score at the end of the 3rd. The Panthers were up 31 early in the 4th: 66-35.

Four players were in double figures — Elijah Smith with 18, Ben Smith at 16, Walker at 14 and Connell with 11.