By By SCOTT COOPER – Sports Writer
The T.R. Miller Lady Tigers took the court in their initial outing of the new year when they hosted the Clarke County Babes in a Jan. 7 Area-1 contest.
While raising their record to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in the area, the Lady Tigers used their superior athleticism to run the floor and consistently score transition points in a 68-29 win.
With the loss, Clarke County's area record was evened at 1-1.
Miller began the game applying pressure designed to disrupt Clark County's offensive flow at the point of attack. The tactic was responsible for numerous steals that allowed the Lady Tigers to grab an early advantage.
Joy McCorvey scored Miller's first four points from the free throw line and Ashley Samuel added another foul shot for a 5-0 Lady Tiger lead with 5:43 to go in the opening quarter. Following a Clarke County basket, Jasmine Sanford scored a basket in transition and added a free throw after being fouled to give Miller an 8-2 lead.
Although the Babes hung tough the remainder of the quarter, Akia Suarez's 3-pointer couple with the offensive production of Samuel and Brittnee Malloyd stretched the Lady Tiger advantage to 17-8 by the end of the period.
Miller's relentless pressure began seriously taking its toll in the second quarter, as defensive thefts leading to easy fast-break baskets became more frequent.
Sanford's four quick points to open the period gave the Lady Tigers a 21-8 lead. From there, Malloyd, Mcorvey and Samuel ran the floor while scoring transition baskets in droves. Suarez added two more 3-pointers in the period that complimented the running game while boosting the leading margin to 41-12 at the half.
The Lady Tigers completely ran away from their opponent in the third period, as a 21-0 run padded their cushion to 62-12 with less than a minute remaining. Only a couple of Clarke County baskets at the end of the quarter prevented a scoreless third stanza for the visitors and reduced the overwhelming deficit they faced to 62-16.
With Miller substituting freely in the final quarter, Clarke County was able to further reduce Miller's advantage. The Babes' late rally cut the Lady Tigers' winning margin to 39 points by game's end.
Offensive leaders for the Lady Tigers were Ashley Samuel, 18 points; Brittnee Malloyd, 13 points; Akia Suarez, 12 points and Joy McCorvey, 12 points.