By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
They may not have carried the offensive punch that Jasmine Sanford and Joy McCorvey delivered, but that was O.K. That was not their job.
Instead the job for T.R. Miller reserves Rebecca Scott, Donya Grice and Shae Walker was to hold down the fort long enough for the Lady Tigers to escape Andalusia with a 43-31 win over the Lady Bulldogs Friday.
With starting forward Brittany Watson still sidelined due to injury and backup and defensive specialist Krystle Smith ill, T.R. Miller coach Ron Jackson had to tap into his bench a little deeper.
The scoring load fell on the shoulders of Sanford and McCorvey, who delivered 21 and 12 points respectively.
T.R. Miller (5-1) overcame a bit of a sluggish start that saw it not move permanently in front until late in the second quarter.
Andalusia had as much as a five-point lead in the opening frame after Bre Cross' drive to the bucket put the Lady Bulldogs up 8-3.
Andalusia still had a 13-11 lead after a free throw by Cross halfway through the second quarter before the tide shifted.
An offensive rebound bucket by McCorvey tied the game and three buckets and three free throws by Sanford over the next four minutes completed an 11-2 run that gave T.R. Miller a 22-15 halftime lead.
The Lady Tigers took their lead into double figures for the first time with three minutes left in the third quarter when a basket by McCorvey made it 30-19. It reached a game high 14-point margin of 35-21 later in the quarter when Sanford fed McCorvey on a backdoor pass to the basket.
Andalusia was able to work its way back in the game and pulled within 37-31 on a field goal by Jemecia McNeil with three minutes left.
T.R. Miller opens up its portion of the Escambia County Tournament at Flomaton Thursday when it takes on the host Lady Hurricanes at 6 p.m.
At Andalusia
T.R. Miller 7 15 13 8 – 43
Andalusia 8 7 8 8 – 31
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Sanford 8-0-5-21; McCorvey 6-0-0-12; Scott 1-0-2-4; Grice 1-0-1-3; Peterson 0-1-0-3 (Totals: 16-1-8-43)
ANDALUSIA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McNeil 4-0-2-10; Cross 2-0-3-7; Couch 3-0-0-6; Alverson 1-0-2-4; Head 1-0-0-2; Curry 0-0-2-2 (Totals; 11-0-9-31)
Lady Tigers rip Northview
T.R. Miller Lady Tigers coach Ron Jackson was looking for a more balanced attack and he got it when his squad shredded the visiting Northview Lady Chiefs 75-23 Tuesday.
A season high five players hit double digits led by Jasmine Sanford's 18 points and 14 more by Joy McCorvey. Donya Grice hit a career high 13 in her first career starting assignment, a figure matched by Keya Peterson. Krystle Smith also reached double digits with 10.
The Lady Tigers were pretty much able to name their score against the outmanned Northview squad.
T.R. Miller scored the game's first 26 points, as it forced Northview into 11 first quarter turnovers. McCorvey (nine) and Sanford (eight) accounted for 17 of those 26 points in that early blitz. Peterson had seven in that run.
At T.R. Miller
Northview 5 4 8 6 – 23
T.R. Miller 28 18 18 11 – 75
NORTHVIEW (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Marshall 4-0-2-10; Foster 2-0-1-5; Thompson 1-0-0-2; Odom 1-0-0-2; Killam 1-0-0-2; Carter 0-0-1-1; Newton 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 9-0-5-23)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Sanford 9-0-0-18; McCorvey 6-0-2-14; Grice 6-0-1-13; Peterson 1-3-2-13; Smith 5-0-0-10; Vickers 1-0-1-3; Scott 1-0-0-2; Bolly 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 30-3-6-75)