TIFTON — Jalaya Miller took Tift County’s first shot Tuesday night, a three-point attempt that found nothing but net.

“A lid was taken off,” said Lady Devils head coach Julie Conner-Johnson. Though the ultimate 48-42 victory took a few twists and turns along the way, Tift had a much better night than Saturday against Lowndes.

The good mood wasn’t limited to only the girls game.

“It was a big win for us,” said Blue Devils’ leader Tommy Blackshear of his 63-41 final score. Tift’s boys had also been looking for a palate cleanser after a rough outing with Lowndes.

Both teams will try to ride the fresh momentum into this weekend, where two Region 1-6A opponents await. Friday sees Tift travel to Camden County. It will be a short turnaround as they welcome Richmond Hill Saturday in games that begin at 2 p.m. to help with the lengthy distance between the schools.

The Lady Devils may have nightmares about Nariah Nelson in between. Nelson was not just the most prolific scorer for Veterans Tuesday, she was nearly the only scorer.

Nelson had 30 of the Lady Warhawks’ 42 points, including 22 of their 28 after halftime.

Mackenzie Holliday gave Tift a 33-18 lead on an offensive rebound at 4:21, an advantage they still had when Nelson sank both from the line at 1:59.

During the last two minutes of the third, Nelson outscored the Lady Devils 10-1, cutting the score to 36-28 at the start of the fourth period.

Nelson scored twice at the start of the fourth, but it was a jump shot by Francesca Jones that tied the game at 36-36 at 5:28.

Miller got a block and Holliday got the hosts the lead back at 38-36 a minute later, but Nelson muscled in a contested offensive rebound and it was 38-38.

A drive to the hoop saw Miller fouled and at 3:10, she made one shot. Nelson returned another offensive rebound, giving the Lady Warhawks their first lead of the night, 40-39, at 2:25.

The winds of change were not permanent, however.

Twelve seconds later, Miller sank a corner three and Tift went back ahead, 42-40. After Nelson re-tied it, Miller made a short jumper at 1:27.

Then came a wild sequence of events. Still ahead 44-42, the Lady Devils were called for a foul with 6.9 seconds left and the ball almost under Veterans’ basket. They had a foul to give, so Veterans had to inbounds.

Before the ball went into play, Veterans was whistled for an offensive foul on an elbow to clear space in the paint.

That gave the ball back to Tift. Not risking getting trapped on the visitors’ end of the floor, Miller chucked the pass deep. A Lady Warhawk tipped it, but Jimmya Cushion rushed to grab the loose ball. When Cushion gained possession, Veterans delivered a hard foul, one ruled to be flagrant.

With four seconds left, Cushion made both shots for some insurance. More insurance came on the inbounds, where Cushion was fouled again. Two more free throws ensued with less than one second to go.

Conner-Johnson was grateful for Cushion’s experience in the closing seconds, commenting that Cushion knew exactly what to do.

Cushion started Tuesday, her first since returning from injury in December. The combination of Cushion, Miller, Holliday, Makayla Bryant and Amira Jordan got the Lady Devils off to a much better start than Saturday and they had a 13-9 lead at the end of the quarter.

The second frame was even more productive.

When Veterans got as close as 16-14 midway through, Tift went on a 12-0 run to finish out the half. Mariyah Batts made two baskets, including a three-pointer.

Miller had 14 points for the Lady Devils, with Cushion close behind at 13.

BLUE DEVILS 63, VETERANS 41

It was nothing but smiles in the fourth quarter, as students chanted for several players to get their turn on the court.

The Devils were able to empty the bench halfway through the fourth, giving the regulars a hard-earned rest after a dominant stretch.

Veterans never led, but hung around for the first half. It was 7-6 on Tristen Abner free throws and later 28-23 on a Justin Thomas bucket with 1:43 before halftime.

But the Warhawks had a serious problem on their hands, and that was how to compete with Tift County’s height. Multiple shots were swatted in the paint as usual by Cordell Nelson and Kaden Lawson, with Quay Bell and Rio Brewton also getting into the action. The Devils blocked eight shots for the game, according to official stats.

Not being able to hit inside led the guests to try more often from outside. That resulted in long rebounds and many, many fast breaks.

Air traffic control no doubt had to identify a few flying objects Tuesday.

Nelson and Lawson dunked on back-to-back baskets in the first, Lawson’s a one-handed jam. J.J. Lamar turned a steal into a dunk in the second. Lawson had another in the second half.

After Thomas cut the lead to five points, Brewton nailed a jumper at the free throw line, then cleaned up the glass with 25 seconds left for a 32-23 advantage.

Tift’s run kept going in the third to 14 consecutive points, Jevian Wilson assisting Lamar at the end for a 42-23 score.

Veterans got only four points in the third, a basket at 5:30 and the other with three seconds remaining.

The Devils kept scoring and it was out of reach at 48-27 headed to the fourth.

A Bell shot saw the lead apex at 25 points. Veterans had a quick run to cut it to 52-38, but got no closer.

Haven McMiller hit a three and Blackshear said he’s quickly moving up in the rotation. A Lawson block that saw him hit Lamar in stride on a long pass for a layup ended the Warhawk threat.

Soon, the cheers came for the subs, which were immediately rewarded when Jarvis Howard turned a short McMiller shot into an assist. McMiller had the last basket.

Nelson scored 16 with Lamar at 15. Brewton and Nelson each had eight points. Veterans was led by the 16 of Aiden Sweenor.