By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
They never trailed, but the Brewton Middle School Lady Tigers never got their game going until they were forced to do so.
That time was the fourth quarter and Brewton used it to pull away for a 26-16 road win over the host Carver Lady Blackcats.
Brewton (8-1), which led 8-4 after one quarter and 12-8 at halftime, appeared to deliver a decisive blow early in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers got a pair of buckets from Leah Brundidge and one by Adrian Gibbs to open up an 18-8 lead.
Carver answered with three straight buckets to end the quarter, one of which was a three-pointer at the buzzer that trimmed Brewton's lead to just 18-15. That turned out to be the last field goal the Lady Tigers' defense allowed.
Brewton went the final two minutes of the third quarter and the first two minutes of the fourth quarter without a point. An offensive rebound bucket by Taylor Guthrie with four minutes left finally broke the ice. It also preceded a pair of buckets by Brundidge, who led all scorers with 14 points, and a fastbreak bucket by Gibbs that knocked the lead back into double digits at 26-15.
The Brewton Tigers were never able to overcome an 11-0 hole they dug at the start of the game, as they dropped a 39-28 decision to Carver.
Despite the fact they dug an early hole and never led in the game, the Tigers (2-7) chipped away at most of that deficit.
Brewton came back from the initial hole with a three-pointer by Devlin Crosby, two free throws by Darrion Salter and an offensive rebound bucket by Jaren Jackson to pull within 11-7 early in the second quarter.
Brewton had a tough time putting six complete minutes together throughout the contest. Carver got a field goal and three-point play in the final 30 seconds of the first half that stretched its lead to 20-11.
Brewton came back in the third quarter and made it a one-possession lead of 22-19 on a field goal by Jaren Jackson, but surrendered two buckets in the last 40 seconds.
The closest the Tigers came occurred in the opening moments of the fourth quarter when Crosby hit his third three-pointer of the game and pulled Brewton within 26-24.
Carver put the game away over the next two minutes when it hit four field goals and pushed its lead back into double digits at 34-24.
Brewton begins the 2007 portion of its schedule Jan. 8 when it hosts Jay, Fla. Play gets underway at 4:30 p.m. with the girls game.
Girls
Brewton 8 4 6 8 - 26
Carver 4 4 7 1 - 16
BREWTON- Brundidge 14, Gibbs 4, Guthrie 4, Neal 2, Jones 2
Brewton 5 6 10 7 - 28
Carver 11 9 6 13 - 39
BREWTON- Crosby 9, K. Jackson 7, J. Jackson 7, Salter 2, Winn 2, Mallard 1