Blue Devils blow out Colquitt, Lady Packers win in upset

Published 1:00 am Saturday, February 5, 2022

Lady Devil Skye McCrae (10) slams on the brakes on the perimeter.

TIFTON – Tift County’s Lady Devils will have to wait a little longer to clinch the No. 1 seed in Region 1-7A, but the Blue Devils had their backs in Friday’s clashes with Colquitt County.

The Devils avenged the girls’ 36-35 loss with a 49-30 victory with an extra statement.

“I want to give a big shout-out to the crowd,” said Devils head coach Tommy Blackshear. “Having a big crowd for Senior Night – and we hit a couple of shots early – got them involved and kind of helped us with our energy.”

Tift built a 21-0 lead in their game following what had to be one of the most monstrously miserable macabre quarters in Packers’ history.

Seventeen seconds in, Ty’Quan Mills scored the opening bucket off an assist from Torrance Galmer. A minute later, Tyler Parker landed a jumper and the lead built from there.

Will Clark scored the next five points, including being fouled on a made basket. The score was 9-0 and Colquitt wasn’t only missing shots, but unable to get them there; Parker blocked three shots in the opening minutes.

Mills made it a 14-0 lead at 3:53. Finally, at 3:18 did Colquitt get some relief when a block attempt made body contact. Unfortunately for the Moultrians, both free throws missed.

It was 17-0 after a Mills three-pointer. The Packers then thought they had a basket, but it was overruled by a traveling violation.

Clark pushed it to 19-0 with 10 seconds left. Colquitt went to attempt a three at the buzzer, but it was blocked by McKyler Horne.

“You can’t expect to hold a team to zero in a quarter,” said Blackshear. “We felt like we let them get away in Moultrie.” (Tift lost by two points in the contest.)

“We wanted to come out with a little energy and we did.”

The second period started as rotten for the visitors, this time an offensive foul wiping out what would have been their first points. Finally, Montana Edwards came through at 6:40 to make the score 21-2.

Edwards scored 7 points in the period, but the Packers still couldn’t entirely shake off the first period; they had two backcourt violations in the second.

Galmer made it 23-5, but Colquitt built a bit of momentum with a 6-0 run before Clark ended the half’s scoring with free throws. The Devils led 25-11 at the break.

Despite the slow start, the Packers were the team who came out hot in the third and when D.T. Williams made a three at 5:50, they had whittled the 21-point deficit to 9, 25-16.

However, the young Blue Devils have learned a thing or two from their close games earlier this season. They weren’t going to let this one slip away.

Christian Jones turned an offensive rebound into points at 5:02, starting a 6-0 Tift run to build the lead back to 31-16.

Colquitt was soon bottled up again, with their only points being 3-of-6 at the free throw line. When Galmer scored on a drive to the hoop with seven seconds remaining in the third, the Packers were right back where they started – down 21 points (42-21).

“That was a nice response,” said Blackshear. “I was glad to see that response because we’re kind of shaky sometimes going down the stretch.” He said he told them at the end of the third quarter how proud he was.

It was also a nice reversal, he said, from all the earlier close losses the team had suffered through.

The sides played evenly in the fourth, Tift taking a more casual pace and Colquitt never getting closer than 17 points.

Clark’s 13 points led Tift County, with Mills adding 9 and Parker and Galmer contributing 7 each.

Williams paced the Packers’ attack with 10 points. Only four team members scored.

COLQUITT 36, LADY DEVILS 35

Colquitt County was up 21-16 at halftime and led for all but 13 of the second half. At no point, however, was the contest not on the cusp of falling into one of the teams’ hands.

Three three-pointers, two by Carliss Johnson and one by Amarieya Knighton were the backbone of the third, putting Tift down by as many as eight points. The Lady Devils worked their way back to 29-25 on Faith Hillmon’s basket, but Johnson nailed a deep shot to push it up to 32-25 going into the fourth.

Tift was down nine again when Tamyra Carter drove to the hoop at 5:18. Colquitt attempted to slow down the pace, but soon found it reversed to breakneck speed.

Four points came from Shakiria Chaney, narrowing the Lady Pack’s advantage to 34-31 with 2:53 remaining.

At 2:03, Braxton Gipson made the first of two free throws. She missed the second and the rebound went out to Caitlyn Burgess, who flipped to Carter for a three at 1:58. Tift was now in the lead at 35-34.

Undeterred and not rattled by a very loud home crowd, they brought the ball up the court found Gracie Belle Paulk on the wing for an open shot at 1:45.

Tift could not convert on their end and Colquitt erased more time. Carter barely missed picking off a pass, but Burgess forced a jump with 28 seconds remaining. The Lady Devils now had possession.

A turnover put the ball in Colquitt hands seconds later, but Burgess forced a visiting dribbler out-of-bounds with 20 seconds remaining. Tift worked it to the last shot, but could not connect from the top of the key and Colquitt held on to win.

Tift jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes of Friday’s game, courtesy of a Carter three and Chaney free throw. At 2:21, Paulk made it 5-4. Unbelievably, Colquitt never trailed after that.

JaKembre Beckhom tied the game at 2:08 on a free throw and had five points in the quarter. It was a 9-11 advantage for the Lady Packers, though, as Johnson scored on a steal.

Knighton buoyed the lead to 18-11 midway through the second frame. Beckhom, Hillmon and Diamond Office closed it to 18-16 before Johnson finished the half with a three.

Johnson scored 15 for Colquitt, with Knighton adding 8.

Carter’s 12 led Tift, with Chaney contributing 8 and Beckhom adding 7.

Tift dropped its first region game of the season, but can still clinch the No. 1 seed at Camden County next week. In between, the Blue Devils and Lady Devils head to Valdosta Saturday for non-region contests.