By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
It is easy for a team to have its intensity level drop in the second half when it has a big lead. Some may say the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers were guilty of that in Friday's 52-33 home win over the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes.
After all, T.R. Miller was outscored 20-17 in the last two quarters after it built a 35-13 half-time edge. The 17 points the Lady Tigers scored in the second half were less than half of what they scored in the first half.
Considering his starting unit did not play together much in the second half and his bench members picked up some valuable minutes, T.R. Miller coach Ron Jackson saw little cause for concern.
"We had a lot of people going in and out of the lineup in the second half. When you do that, it's tough to get much of a flow and continuity going," Jackson said. "We're going to need our bench to produce for us down the road and I felt they did that for us in the second half."
After a 2-2 deadlock in the first couple of minutes, the Lady Tigers (13-2) went on a 27-4 run over the next 10 minutes to grab control of the game with a 29-6 lead.
That cushion stood at 17-6 through one quarter thanks to four buckets by Ashley Samuel, two hoops and a free throw by Jasmine Sanford and two field goals by Krystle Smith.
A fastbreak basket by Sanford halfway through the second quarter gave T.R. Miller a 29-6 lead. The Lady Tigers' biggest cushion of the first half was a 35-11 bulge after a hoop by Samuel late in the second quarter.
For the most part, the teams played on near even terms in the second half. T.R. Miller was able to extend its biggest margin of lead by a point in the third quarter when a charity toss by
See LADY TIGERS Page 6
Keonshaye Lane late in the frame made it 45-20.
Although it did not make a serious run at T.R. Miller's lead, Flomaton (10-6) got as close at 49-32 after a basket by Shanna Gillis with two minutes left.
Samuel led T.R. Miller with 17 points, while Joy McCorvey and Sanford each added 10. However, McCorvey's biggest contribution was her defense.
McCorvey kept Flomaton 6-3 senior center Shaquita Odom scoreless for the game. Odom picked up three first half fouls and spent much of the game on the bench.
The Lady Tigers are back in action Tuesday with a home date against W.S. Neal.
At T.R. Miller
Flomaton 6 7 7 13 – 33
T.R. Miller 17 18 10 7 – 52
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Lisenby 4-0-1-9; Hodge 4-0-0-8; Mitchell 3-0-1-7; Cayson 0-0-4-4; Gillis 1-0-0-2; Lassiter 1-0-0-2; Harden 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 13-0-7-33)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Samuel 6-1-2-17; Sanford 4-0-2-10; McCorvey 5-0-0-10; Smith 3-0-0-6; Nettles 1-0-1-3; Lane 1-0-1-3; Brown 1-0-0-2; Walker 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 21-1-7-52)
Tuesday's game
Not only has senior Ashley Samuel made it a habit to lead the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers in scoring this season, she has started to make a habit of outscoring opposing teams all by herself.
Samuel racked up 38 points to lead the Lady Tigers to an 82-34 triumph over the host Clarke County Lady Bulldogs Tuesday in a Class 3A Area 1 matchup. It marked the sixth time this season Samuel has outscored the opposing team.
"With games like that, it won't take her long to move up in our record book, but that's good," T.R. Miller coach Ron Jackson said.
While Samuel did not pass anybody in the Lady Tigers record book Tuesday, her 38 points did move her within 95 of Felicia Jackson for second place on the school's all-time list.
Although Samuel did not pass anybody, sophomore Joy McCorvey moved into a tie for eighth place on the Lady Tigers' career scoring chart. McCorvey, who had 18 points in the win, pulled into a deadlock with CeCe Jolly with 769 points.
T.R. Miller made quick work of the Lady Bulldogs, as it raced to a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game and never looked back.
Sophomore Jasmine Sanford and Samuel both triggered the fast start, as each had three field goals during the initial run.
The Lady Tigers' defense kept Clarke County off the scoreboard for the first six minutes until a bucket by Tiffany Johnson broke that streak.
By the time the period was over, buckets by Krystle Smith, Samuel and McCorvey had T.R. Miller in control with a 21-5 lead.
As good as the Lady Tigers run was at the start of the game, they had an even better one to start the second period.
Led by four field goals by Samuel and three by McCorvey, T.R. Miller went on a 15-0 blitz that swelled its cushion to 36-5.
Samuel had three more buckets before the quarter ended and finished the first half with 23 points. The Lady Tigers, who led by as many as 33 points in the first half, enjoyed a 43-11 half-time bulge.
Samuel ran her total to 35 points with 12 more in the third quarter. That production along with three hoops by McCorvey knocked the lead up to 67-23.
While T.R. Milelr has not had a lot of production from its bench this season, that was not the case in the fourth quarter when Megan Fountain, Scarlett Herrington, Cecile Nettles and Ashley Herbery all cracked the scoring column.
At Clarke County
T.R. Miller 21 22 24 15 – 82
Clarke County 5 6 12 11 – 34
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Samuel 18-0-2-38; McCorvey 9-0-0-18; Sanford 4-0-0-8; Lane 2-0-1-5; Fountain 2-0-0-4; Smith 2-0-0-4; Nettles 1-0-1-3; Herrington 0-0-1-1; Herbert 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 38-0-6-82)
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Martin 3-0-2-8; Snell 0-2-0-6; Curtis 1-1-0-5; Thomas 2-0-0-4; Denson 0-1-0-3; Hodges 1-0-0-2; Dickers 1-0-0-2; T. Johnson 1-0-0-2; D. Johnson 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 9-4-4-34)