TIFTON — Tuesday night saw Tift County’s Blue Devils and Lady Devils play together for the first time in 2024-25. The teams split games with Westover in which each began figuring out how everything fits together.

Final score for each game was low, as is often the case with inexperience. The Lady Devils won, 36-27, with the Devils falling 41-37.

Tift’s girls had two games of experience before Tuesday’s home opener, and this was their first victory of the year following an elite eight season in 2023-24.

There was a nice bonus for this home game, the return of Jalaya Miller to the lineup. Head coach Julie Conner-Johnson said Miller had only two days of practice before playing.

Miller needed some time to shake off the rust – not getting a basket until the fourth quarter, but finishing as Tift’s highest scorer with nine points.

Mariyah Batts began the night with a three-pointer 80 seconds into the contest. Westover countered with a steal and basket by Sydney Donaldson at 5:50, but the locals ended the frame with a 7-2 lead.

Tift’s defense held the Lady Patriots without any points for 9:30, spanning the first and second periods, and without a basket from the field 10 minutes. They built a 17-2 lead, with Batts and Jaziyah Johnson hitting from deep, but then everyone went cold.

Westover was only down 18-14 at halftime and worse for Tift, Johnson picked up her fourth foul during the quarter.

Wykeria Holmes opened the third frame with a bucket, drawing Westover even closer at 18-16. But from there, Tift began a rally.

Mackenzie Holliday was fouled on a made basket at 4:04 for some breathing room. Though Holliday soon picked up her fourth foul, the Lady Devils got another “and-one” opportunity, courtesy of Ashanti Dixon. When Miller fed Kenashah Mitchell in the paint at quarter’s close, they were back ahead at 24-18.

Miller got going in the fourth, a drive to the hoop at 7:18 for her first basket of the season. Makayla Bryant followed with a runner before Miller scored on an inbounds pass for a 10-point lead at 30-20.

Westover notched seven of the next nine pints scored in the contest, but only got as close as 32-27.

Johnson, who made it through on the four fouls, scored at 1:34. The Lady Patriots missed a pair from the line and Tift fully sealed it when Miller and Johnson combined for a steal with 30 seconds left.

Besides Miller’s nine, Johnson scored seven points. Batts had six.

PATRIOTS 41, DEVILS 37

Tift’s boys were not in good shape at halftime. They were tied after a quarter with Westover, 7-7, but gave up the last nine points of the second frame to trail 23-11.

It didn’t end on a down note.

Tuesday was quite the night for Cordell Nelson. Playing in the first extended time of his varsity career, Nelson excelled with 12 second-half points and five total blocks.

Nelson first got the lead under 10 with free throws at 2:37 in the third. When he and Quay Bell scored six seconds apart late in the third, the advantage was whittled down to 27-24.

Tift kept coming close.

J.J. Lamar’s jumper to start the fourth made it 28-26. Rio Brewton hit one at the stripe to make it a one-point game, 28-27 at 6:56.

True to its heritage, however, Westover came up big every time they needed to do so.

Gregory Williams immediately built the lead back to four points on a three-pointer. When Nelson scored in the post on the next possession, Williams drained another from behind the arc.

Nelson worked the post again to be down 37-35 at 1:57. Tift had a chance when Westover had a shot clock violation with 50 seconds left, but Aden Reese came up with a steal and basket at the other end.

Bell made two free throws for a one-possession game with 17 ticks left. Tift got the necessary fouls to get the Patriots to the line and Williams made both with six seconds remaining to put the contest out of reach.

Post play helped Tift take a 4-0 lead to start the night. Kaden Lawson and Nelson provided the points.

Williams was the only Westover player in double figures at 14 points. Likewise, Nelson’s 13 made him the only double-digit scorer for Tift. Lamar scored seven and Lawson had five points and three blocks.

There was one strange moment in the game, one that head coach Tommy Blackshear couldn’t remember ever experiencing.

Williams was fouled on a three-point attempt at 1:51 in the second period. He took two shots, making the first and Tift rebounded the ball on the second.

Twenty-nine seconds later with the ball back in Westover’s arms, the officials realized the error. After conferring with both coaches, Williams went back to the line at 1:22 and made the belated third free throw.