By By SCOTT COOPER – Sports Writer
In girls' basketball action over the past week at T.R. Miller High School, the Lady Tigers continued their strong play with two dominating wins. After defeating the Lady Hurricanes of Flomaton, the Lady Tigers continued to roll with an impressive victory over UMS-Wright.
Lady Tigers 69, Flomaton 18
The Lady Tigers had little trouble gaining a Jan. 10 victory over the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes.
Sprinting from the starting blocks to begin the game, Miller raced out to an overwhelming 22-5 lead by the end of the opening quarter before padding the cushion to 37-10 at halftime.
The Tigers outscored the Lady Hurricanes 24-2 in the third quarter to build a 61-12 advantage, and then cruised from there to a 69-18 win.
Scoring leaders for the Lady Tigers were Ashley Samuel, 25 points; Joy McCorvey, 14 points and Akia Suarez, 11 points.
Lady Tigers 50
UMS-Wright 26
Next on the agenda for the Lady Tigers was a Jan. 11 meeting with the UMS-Wright Lady Bulldogs. Although the Lady Tigers held the upper hand the entire game, the Lady Bulldogs stayed within reach for two quarters before Miller (12-3) shifted into another gear in the second half and pulled away to a 50-26 win.
The Lady Tigers' first-quarter performance gave the indication they would simply blow away the visitors early. With their pressure defense causing all sorts of problems for the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Tigers raced out to a 16-4 period-ending lead.
In a second quarter marked by numerous turnovers and offensive errors by both teams, UMS-Wright was able to gain some ground. The Lady Tigers were able to manufacture only six points with just under 2:00 remaining in the half. Leading 22-12 at that point, Miller surrendered a 3-pointer to the Lady Bulldogs just before the break which cut the lead to 22-15 at halftime.
The Lady Tigers returned to their opening-quarter dominance by outscoring the visitors 12-6 in the third period. Entering the final period of play, Miller led 34-21.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, UMS-Wright attempted to get back into the game with full-court pressure. That proved to be a mistake for the Bulldogs as the Lady Tigers easily broke containment and went on to score eight consecutive points that upped their lead to 42-21 with just over 5:00 to go in the game. The margin was stretched to 46-24 with 2:04 left before Miller outscored the Lady Bulldogs 4-2 over the last couple of minutes to exit with the 24-point win.
Ashley Samuel led the Lady Tigers with 28 points while Joy McCorvey added 11 points to the winning total.