By By SCOTT COOPER – Sports Writer
After notching a relatively comfortable victory over the Northview Chiefs, the T.R. Millers Tigers saw their seven-game winning streak broken with a tough loss to the Andalusia Bulldogs.
With a split in their last two games, the Tigers' season record stands at 16-5.
Miller 83, Northview 72
In a Jan. 24 contest played at home against the Northview Chiefs, the T.R. Miller Tigers broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter and pulled away with an 83-72 win.
The Tigers started slowly, falling behind 5-0 in the first quarter before outscoring Northview 19-11 the remainder of the period to jump ahead, 19-16.
Northview began the second stanza draining 3-pointers that led to a tie game, 33-33, midway through the quarter. But, Miller took advantage of a total-team offensive and defensive effort to overcome the long-range bombs and enter intermission holding a 42-37 lead.
After padding the cushion to 58-47 at the end of the third period, the Tigers once again had to deal with a barrage of Chiefs' 3-point shots.
Four consecutive Northview 3-pointers to begin the fourth quarter cut Miller's lead to a single point, 60-59. The Tigers then tightened their perimeter defense and began making things happen on the offensive end in a 12-8 run that gave them some breathing room at 72-67. From that point, the lead remained solid as Miller exited with an 11-point win.
Offensive leaders for the Tigers were DaWaun Johnson, 20 points; Neal Cheatham, 16 points; Trey Paul, 14 points; Ryheem Drakeford, 12 points and Dominic Johnson, 10 points.
Andalusia 56, Miller 54
The Andalusia Bulldogs traveled to meet the Tigers on Jan. 25 and held off a late Miller rally to earn a 56-54 victory.
Andalusia (12-12) took advantage of a fast start to build an 11-point cushion by halftime. Although the Tigers went to work in the second half and reduced the Bulldog lead to a single point with only seconds remaining in the game, Andalusia did what was necessary to bag the win and snap Miller's seven-game winning streak.
Andalusia dominated the action of the opening quarter. Playing tough, physical basketball inside the paint, the Bulldogs led 8-2 midway through the period before ending with a commanding 16-5 lead.
After the second period was played to a 10-10 tie, the Bulldogs took a 26-15 cushion into the halftime break.
In the third period, the Tigers went on a 15-7 run that reduced the Andalusia advantage to 33-30 with just under a minute to go in the period. But, the Bulldogs proceeded to score the quarter's final four points and continued holding the upper hand, 37-30, heading to the final eight minutes of the contest.
By maximizing their defensive intensity level, the Tigers were able to put themselves in position to win the game in the fourth quarter. After reducing the Bulldogs' lead to 48-43 with two minutes remaining, Miller went on an 11-7 run that further cut the lead down to one, 55-54, with four seconds showing on the clock. However, with no timeouts remaining Miller was able to do little but foul and watch as the Bulldogs hit a shot from the free throw line that gave them a hard-earned 56-54 win.
Scoring leaders for the Tigers were Ryheem Drakeford, 16 points; DaWaun Johnson, 12 points and Neal Cheatham, 10 points.
Terrence Smith led Andalusia with 23 points. Alvin Daniels and Kelly Junior each added 15 points to the team total.