By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
A year ago the T.R. Miller Tigers won a coin toss with Clarke County and the right to host the Area Tournament. The Tigers now hope for the same outcome this year.
For the second year in a row, T.R. Miller and Clarke County finished the Class 3A Area 1 season in a deadlock after the Tigers notched a stunning 58-54 comeback win at Straughn Friday.
If the Tigers win the coin toss, they will host W.S. Neal in the Area opener. If Clarke County wins the flip, T.R. Miller will meet Straughn in the Area opener at Clarke County.
T.R. Miller (14-6 overall and 5-1 in the Area) never led in the game until Gerald Banton's steal led to a hoop by Damien Jackson and put the Tigers up 52-51 with 1:51 left.
T.R. Miller's largest deficit was a 35-23 hole three minutes into the third quarter.
Damien Jackson continued his torrid play with a new career high of 29 points, one more than his previous career best of 28 set the previous week at Jay.
Free throws were also a key down the stretch, as T.R. Miller connected on 11 of 14 charity tosses in the fourth quarter. That included a perfect six-for-six by Wade Jackson in the fourth quarter.
T.R. Miller's junior varsity posted its lowest offensive output of the season, yet it still managed to beat Straughn 20-17.
Briddell Jones had eight points to pace T.R. Miller (11-2).
The Tigers, who played at Greenville Saturday, host Flomaton Tuesday.
At Straughn
T.R. Miller 12 9 13 24 – 58
Straughn 16 10 15 13 – 54
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) D. Jackson 5-4-7-29; W. Jackson 1-1-7-12; Byrd 3-0-2-8; Lucas 3-0-0-6; Banton 1-0-1-3 (Totals: 13-5-17-58)
STRAUGHN (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) S. Driver 6-0-4-16; Armstrong 3-2-0-12; Hunter 1-1-2-7; Carter 2-0-3-7; Sexton 0-2-0-6; Johnson 1-0-0-2; Bass 0-0-2-2; Huggins 0-0-1-1; Hammett 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 13-5-13-54)
Junior varsity
T.R. Miller 6 5 6 3 – 20
Straughn 2 2 11 3 – 17
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Jones 4-0-0-8; Jer. Knight 1-0-3-5; Stallworth 1-0-1-3; Cunningham 1-0-0-2; Ter. Walker 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 8-0-4-20)
STRAUGHN (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) T. Driver 4-0-2-10; Marshall 0-1-0-3; Parker 1-0-0-2; Kinsaul 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 6-1-2-17)
Tuesday's game
The Tigers followed one of their best halves of the season
See TIGERS Page 7
with possibly their worst half of the season Tuesday, as they suffered a 75-51 home-court loss to the Escambia County Blue Devils.
Tuesday's game was a strange tale of two halves.
The shorthanded Tigers, who played without injured starter Tye Walker for the fifth straight game and also starter Gerald Banton, looked as if they might get run out of the gym when the Blue Devils (15-8) raced out to a 15-7 in just over four minutes at the start of the game.
Thanks largely to Terrelle Brooks, who came off the bench and contributed four first half field goals, T.R. Miller fought back and took a seven-point lead on four occasions in the first half.
Up 40-36 at halftime, T.R. Miller's offense went stone cold in the second half where it hit just four of 33 second half shots (13 percent). Meanwhile Escambia County heated up and hit 17 of 30 second half attempts (57 percent).
It added up to a 39-11 surge by the Blue Devils in the second half.
The Tigers junior varsity put a "W" in the win column against Escambia County with a 75-51 triumph. Brandon Andrews pumped in 21 points to lead T.R. Miller.
At T.R. Miller
Escambia Co. 18 18 21 18 – 75
T.R. Miller 17 23 5 6 – 51
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McCants 3-5-0-21; Arnold 3-2-0-12; Hartley 5-0-0-10; Andrews 4-0-0-8; Autrey 2-1-0-7; James 2-1-0-7; Lewis 2-0-1-5; Taylor 2-0-1-5 (Totals: 23-9-2-75)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Byrd 4-0-4-12; Lucas 3-0-5-11; D. Jackson 3-1-2-11; Brooks 4-0-0-8; W. Jackson 1-0-3-5; Arauz 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 17-1-14-51)
Junior varsity
Escambia Co. 8 4 13 14 – 39
T.R. Miller 9 7 17 23 – 56
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Watson 5-2-0-16; Richardson 3-0-0-6; Purify 1-0-2-4; Faircloth 0-1-0-3; Jefferson 1-0-1-3; Bayne 0-1-0-3; Bankston 1-0-0-2; Frye 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 11-4-5-39)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Andrews 3-1-12-21; Stallworth 5-0-2-12; Ter. Walker 3-0-0-6; Jones 3-0-0-6; Jer. Knight 3-0-0-6; Curry 1-0-1-3; Hardy 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 19-1-15-56)