TIFTON — Tift County basketball teams will have their hands full this weekend with Region 1-6A opponents. Colquitt County comes in Friday and the Blue Devils and Lady Devils go to Valdosta Saturday.

Before then, however, they divided a varsity doubleheader with non-region Coffee Tuesday night at The Palace. The Devils were in control all 32 minutes of a 44-29 victory, but the shorthanded Lady Devils dropped a 62-44 game.

Though they roasted Coffee, Tift’s boys did get cause for concern in the second quarter when Rio Brewton went down with an apparent leg injury. Brewton has been a glue-type player whose hustle and ability to play anywhere has been tremendous for the Blue Devils.

To say Coffee began the night cold might be an understatement.

Tift had a 14-3 lead at the end of the first period. Cordell Nelson had two buckets as they raced out to a 6-0 lead.

I’Kylie Tucker made a three-pointer at 4:02. That was it for Coffee for the rest of the quarter. Nothing went right on offense. Nelson, Kaden Lawson and Quay Bell all had blocks.

Later, J.J. Lamar scored on a baseline drive with 11 seconds to go. Trying to hustle the ball up the floor quickly, a Trojan pass was picked off by Jalen White. Brewton scored off an offensive rebound with two seconds showing. So frustrated by the series, Coffee head coach Pernell Williams called a timeout with one-tenth of a second remaining, not enough time to even run a play out of it.

The Trojan field goal woes continued in the second. They scored at 7:37, but on free throws. Tift was up 18-6 when Tresean Smith got a jumper to fall at 5:08.

Bell responded with a trey on a Dai’jon Hayes assist, immediately ruling out any chance of a comeback. Nick Hayes and Lamar scored the last four points of the half, putting Tift ahead 25-11.

The block party continued throughout, with even more players getting into the act.  Lamar, Marshall Howard and Zamari Paulk stuffed the guests as well. Lawson even turned a block into an assist, catching the tip and firing to Hayes at the other end for a layup in the third quarter. That basket doubled up Coffee at 32-16.

Lamar and Bell points to begin the fourth gave Tift its largest lead at 39-16. Tommy Blackshear rotated plenty of players throughout the game but fully emptied the bench in the fourth. Haven McMiller had five points in the last 2:35.

Scoring was extremely balanced for the Blue Devils. Lamar netted 8 with Lawson, Brewton and Bell at 6 points. Ten players scored. Smith’s 10 was the most for Coffee.

COFFEE 62, LADY DEVILS 44

Both Makayla Bryant and Jimmya Cushion were out Tuesday, taking away two of Tift’s top point guard options. Mariyah Batts got the start, getting help from Jaziyah Johnson.

The teams were close for the first six minutes of the contest before the 16-1 Lady Trojans exploded. Kashariyona White had two baskets in the 8-0 run that ended the quarter with Coffee on top 18-9.

Tift had a tough start to the second frame as the visitors scored nine of the first 11 points over a two-minute span, with only Batts’ jumper adding to the Lady Devils’ total. Coffee stayed hot, building the lead to 22 — 40-18 — when the buzzer sounded.

At 5:22 in the third, Coffee’s lead peaked at 44-20, but then a switch flipped. The Lady Devils reeled off a 13-0 run to get back in contention at 44-33 with 1:57 left. This hot streak included four points each by Johnson and Mackenzie Holliday, plus a triple by Jalaya Miller.

Unfortunately, the hole was too deep and Coffee had a run of its own. Keyed by White and a Jasmine Porter basket at the horn, they rebuilt the lead back to 54-35.

Tift didn’t end the night quietly. Holliday had an excellent fourth quarter, constantly getting to the free throw line. Amira Jordan fired in 10 points before fouling out late.

Holliday led with 13 points. Miller scored 11 and Jordan had 10. Jasmine Porter’s 16 paced Coffee.