TIFTON — A region championship once again is in the possession of the Tift County Lady Devils. Tift won a 51-47 all-time classic over Veterans Friday to gain the crown.

The news was all good for Tift County teams Friday at The Palace. The Blue Devils will be the third seed out of Region 1-6A with a 63-58 victory, also over Veterans.

Coaches always talk about unsung heroes in games. Tift had a big one Friday.

The Lady Devils were clinging to a 50-47 lead in the last 90 seconds, but Veterans had the ball.when Faith Hillman stood her ground and took a charge against Nariah Nelson at 1:07 on what would have been a made basket. The play also fouled out Nelson, who was Veterans’ leading scorer.

“That was huge,” said head coach Julie Conner-Johnson.

Tift was not out of the woods, however. They turned the ball over with about 30 seconds to go, but got it back on an unusual jump ball, caused when a Lady Warhawk shot got stuck on the edge of the rim.

Jalaya Miller caught the inbounds pass with 17 seconds left, but there was a scary moment when a Veterans player rolled into her leg on a foul. Miller was tended to on the court and walked back to the bench. Since she needed assistance, another player would have shot her free throws, but Conner-Johnson called a timeout to keep Miller in the game.

The decision was wise; Miller made the first free throw, giving Tift a 51-47 lead.

Veterans missed a late shot, with the Lady Devils corralling the rebound and running out the clock.

The championship game was tight throughout. Tift briefly built a 10-point lead on a pair of free throws from Miller with 1:18 to go in the 2nd, but Gabby Minus sank two seconds later and it was a 30-22 game at halftime.

Tift’s press played a major factor in the 1st half. They forced six turnovers off the pressure, including Veterans twice all but handing the ball to Caitlyn Burgess under her own goal. The press even worked without Jimmya Cushion in the lineup. Cushion missed half the 2nd period with an injured ankle when she collided with another player.

Speed matched speed in the game, with neither team ever slowing the pace. For the most part, they kept one another from fast break points, but a 1st frame highlight was Makayla Bryant throwing a pass three-quarters of the floor to a wide open Burgess for a layup.

Outside of an opening bucket by Nelson, Veterans never led.

Veterans began the 2nd half with a 6-2 run, Minus closing the gap to 32-28. But Hillman countered with an old-fashioned three-point play to open the advantage to seven.

Down 42-37 after three quarters, the Lady Warhawks cut it to three points several times in the 4th.

Des’teyn Seaton free throws and a basket twice narrowed Tift’s lead to that and it was nearly closer on the latter, but Seaton missed the “and one.” Veterans grabbed the offensive board, but were immediately met by a Miller stuff.

Jimmya Cushion was held to two points thanks to Veterans sticking to her like glue, but the two were huge.

Seconds after Miller’s block, Cushion was fouled on her end of the floor. She sank both, a bit of breathing room at 46-41.

Conner-Johnson said that stats lines don’t matter to Cushion. “She played team ball,” Conner-Johnson said.

Veterans missed two more from the line and Miller hit a jumper. That allowed them to weather the storm after Seaton’s triple with 3:30 left made it a 48-45 game.

Miller scored 20 points to lead Tift, her play all over the court earning high praise from all of her coaches. Burgess scored 16. The Lady Devils are 23-4 for the season, 15-1 in 2024. Nelson’s 18 paced Veterans, with 14 coming from Seaton and 12 from Minus.

Tift learned its first round opponent after the game: Riverwood, based out of Atlanta. They are the No. 4 from Region 4-6A.

DEVILS 63, VETERANS 58

One night after giving top seed Lee County a scare, the Blue Devils made their way past Veterans to be Region 1’s third seed.

The victory was another sign of the Devils’ growth over the year. Both big men — Kaden Lawson and Corey Howard — fouled out in the 4th quarter. With Tristan Boone being the closest thing to a center on the floor, they kept the Warhawks out of the paint and held on to their lead.

Howard fouled out 90 seconds into the 4th with Tift down two points. At 5:12, Boone fed Lawson for a slam dunk, tying the score at 53-53. The Boone-to-Lawson connected worked again to gain the lead, then Tift jumped out by five on a 3-pointer by J.J. Lamar.

Mikey Williams scored for the Warhawks, but when Veterans had an opportunity to narrow the gap to one point at 1:54, they missed both from the stripe.

On the other end, McKyler Horne made both of his free throws to go up 60-55. Lawson fouled out at 1:03 and Tristen Abner made it a one-possession game at 60-57.

Though the Devils missed free throws, a travel call gave the ball back to them with 42 seconds left. Quay Bell scored on a press break to put the game out of reach.

Lawson had two dunks in the game, the first off an incredible tip by Jaden Nelson to redirect a high outlet pass. The teams were tied 12-12 at the end of the quarter, with a Howard offensive rebound being the last points of the period.

Tift and Veterans were neck-and-neck during the second. Ezekiel Carswell’s three putting the Warhawks down a point, 27-26, with 1:17 left in the half. Tift then got two late baskets, one a three by Lamar to be up 32-26 at the break. Lamar had a big block on a Veterans offensive rebound as the clock struck zero.

Chandler Thomas finished off a 8-0 Veterans run in the 3rd to knot the score at 34. Later his basket had VHS ahead at 45-41 before Lamar hit all three free throws when fouled behind the arc and Horne had a triple of his own. Lawson was Tift’s leading scorer at 12 points, Lamar close behind with 11. Thoomas’ 16 led Veterans, with Carswell netting 14.

Tift will be on the road for the first round of state, at Marist.