Lady Panthers keep up undefeated streak

Published 1:00 pm Friday, January 6, 2023

CHULA — Tiftarea Academy’s Rob Flick knew he had a quality win Thursday, Jan. 5 against Brookwood.

The Lady Panthers were missing a starter. Elli Bryan struggled to hit from the floor, but the locals never trailed in a 48-40 victory to remain undefeated on the year and win their first in GIAA Region 3-AAA.

Tiftarea’s boys had a much rougher time of it Thursday, falling 81-29 to Brookwood.

The Lady Panthers swarmed all game. Brookwood was pressured on every rebound. Multiple sets of hands presented themselves as obstacles every time the Lady Warriors tried to take the ball up the floor. No shot was easy.

Tiftarea swatted, they jumped, dove, forced jump balls and, on one occasion, Ali Strenth tested the durability of the new scorer’s table when she ran into it tipping a sideline pass.

Strenth hasn’t been on top of the scoring chart in as many games in 2022-23 as usual, but the senior was perhaps the biggest difference-maker against Brookwood.

“I don’t think she did anything out of the ordinary for her,” Flick said. “I think that every that has happened before has been out of the ordinary.” Strenth has been aggressive all season with defense and shots, but finally things fell like they should. “This is who she is.”

Bryan led with 15 points, Strenth was right there at 13. Ten of those points were in the 1st half, all of them in needed situations.

Maddie Duncan gave the Lady Warriors a 2-2 tie at 6:20. Soon, Strenth drove strong to the hoop to go up 4-2. Seconds later, she was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound. She had five of the points during the 7-0 run.

Bryan scored 7 in the 1st, but was held relatively quiet. Fortunately, everyone else stepped in.

“We talked about that all week,” said Flick. “We talked about stepping up while Grace (Odom) is out.” He expects Odom to be back in a few days. Flick said he knew Bryan would face an elevated defensive effort.

Isabella Fernandez’s jumper made it a 14-point lead, 19-5, midway through the second. The visitors scored six straight, but saw that run ended when Elaine Mercer scored on a reverse layup.

Strenth built the lead back up to 10 points, though Brookwood showed they weren’t going away quietly on Katie Knifer’s 3-pointer with a second to spare in the half. That trimmed Tiftarea’s advantage to 26-19.

Jolee Paulk went coast to coast for a layup off a defensive rebound to finish off the 3rd at 35-28, the same margin as the half.

Brookwood warmed up even more, a three-point play by Duncan to close to 38-34 at 5:54 in the 4th. Their heat was matched by Bryan who still struggled from the floor but was nearly perfect from the free throw stripe. She made all six tries in the final period and 11 of 12 for the game.

“If she goes to the free throw line, we’re going to win a lot of games,” said Flick.

The first two of the six gave a little breathing room and was soon followed by just her second basket, scored in the post. Strenth ripped a defensive rebound from a Lady Warrior and was fouled. She made bot free shots. The lead was 10 points again, 44-34, with 4:35 left.

It took two minutes for Brookwood to score again, by then too late.

Ainsley Jacobson’s 3 made it 46-40, but the Lady Warriors needed to foul to regain to possession. Livi Mullis made two of four attempts. Brookwood missed all shots on their end.

It was a strange shooting night for the Lady Warriors. They made 10 3-pointers but were but 2 of 13 on free throws. Only once in each quarter did they made a basket from inside the arc.

Jacobson scored 12 points. Knifer netted 11.

Besides the efforts of Bryan and Strenth, Lexi Connell, Fernandez, Paulk and Amelia Mercer scored 4 each.

WARRIORS 81, PANTHERS 29

Tiftarea held a lead against Brookwood. They held it for two minutes.

Carter Cook made two technical free throws at 7:02 to go ahead 3-2. Raj Singh converted an offensive rebound and J.R. Walker scored on an assist by Tucker Hall.

The score was 7-4 at that moment. Then Chris May nailed a 3-pointer at 4:53 to tie. May made three more 3s in the 1st period alone, scoring 14 points in five minutes.

The rest of the Warriors were on fire, too. They scored 27 as a team to Tiftarea’s 12, a deficit that continued growing at a quick rate.

William Harrell and Jordyn Jean scored 5 apiece during the 2nd, half of Brookwood’s total. They held the Panthers scoreless, going to the dressing room ahead at 47-12.

Brookwood scored the first six points of the 3rd quarter until Tiftarea regained its footing.

Hall assisted Tucker for the points at 6:25 and teams played on even terms for the rest of the frame. Cubbie Crosson and Raj Singh joined Hall on a 6-2 run later in the period.

The best play, though, was at the very end of the 3rd.

Kaden Giles seemed assured of scoring the last points on his 3-pointer with six seconds left, but Hall bested him with a halfcourt heave that went in as the buzzer sounded.

Crosson led off the 4th with a basket. Whit Jordan lit up the bench when he stole a rebound Brookwood initially grabbed and made an easy score. Harrell scored 7 points in the final period for Brookwood.

Four players scored 10 or more points for the Warriors. May finished with 16, Harrell had 12, Jean had 11 and T.J. Thomas netted 10.

Crosson and Walker led Tiftarea with 8 apiece. Singh scored 5. Flick again pulled double-duty, coaching girls and boys.

Tiftarea will play at Southland Academy Jan. 10 with a road game at Southwest Georgia Academy Jan. 12. Their next home game is Jan. 13 against Deerfield-Windsor.