By BY BRUCE HIXON – sports editor
The bad: the T.R. Miller Tigers continued their recent trend of falling behind in games.
The good: the Tigers have been able to work their way out of most of the holes they have dug with the latest being a 16-point deficit in Friday's 57-51 home win over the Monroe County Tigers.
Friday's game marked the sixth time in the last seven contests T.R. Miller had a second half deficit. The Tigers have been able to climb back in four of those six games.
Friday's comeback was the largest one of the season for the Tigers (14-5), one point better than the 15-point deficit they erased at Hillcrest last month.
The host Tigers endured a five-minute stretch in the first half where they failed to score and a six-minute stretch where they were outscored 14-1, as Monroe County (9-15) opened up a 25-9 lead.
Seven straight points by Wade Jackson and a bucket by Kelly Stallworth off a steal by Terry Hetherington sent T.R. Miller on a 9-0 run that helped narrow the gap to 32-25 by halftime. Two free throws by Jackson, who finished with a game-high 23 points, in the opening moments of the third quarter narrowed Monroe County's lead to 32-27.
Monroe County appeared it would weather the storm and put its lead back into double digits at 40-30 when Grant White hit two free throws with 5:05 left in the frame.
After each team exchanged a bucket over the next minute, the host Tigers ended the quarter on an 11-2 run and pulled within 44-41 when Brandon Andrews hit two free throws with 37 seconds left in the quarter.
Jackson's three-point play a minute into the fourth quarter pulled T.R. Miller even at 46-46. The Tigers took their first lead since the first minute of the game a minute later when a hoop by Teras Fountain put T.R. Miller up 48-47.
Fountain came up with another big contribution moments later when he picked up a loose ball underneath the T.R. Miller basket and then dished off an assist to Jackson for a field goal that gave the Tigers a 50-48 lead they never relinquished.
T.R. Miller's junior varsity held off Monroe County 36-34. Matt Lane buried four three-pointers and scored 14 points to pace the Tigers (6-7).
T.R. Miller closes out the regular season Monday when it hosts Flomaton. Play starts with the junior varsity game at 4:30 p.m.
At T.R. Miller
Monroe County 15 17 12 7 - 51
T.R. Miller 8 17 16 16 – 57
MONROE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Richardson 6-0-2-14; Stanton 3-0-3-9; White 2-0-4-8; L. Patrick 0-2-1-7; Coleman 3-0-1-7; Hyburt 3-0-0-6 (Totals: 17-2-11-51)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Jackson 7-0-9-23; Andrews 4-2-3-17; Brooks 2-0-5-9; Stallworth 1-0-1-3; Hetherington 0-0-3-3; Fountain 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 15-2-21-57)
Junior varsity
Monroe County 4 6 8 16 - 34
T.R. Miller 5 10 4 17 - 36
MONROE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Patrick 3-1-0-9; Lee 4-0-0-8; Fountain 0-2-1-7; Smith 0-2-0-6; Manuel 1-0-0-2; Johnson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 9-5-1-34)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) M. Lane 1-4-0-14; Payne 3-0-4-10; Banks 2-0-2-6; Riley 1-0-1-3; McCorvey 1-0-0-2; Watson 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 8-4-8-36)
Tigers rally past Jay
T.R. Miller put the brakes on its first two-game losing streak of the season Tuesday when it rallied to down the host Jay, Fla. Royals 63-55.
Jay looked as it if would extend that slide to three games when it turned a one-point halftime lead into a 12-point gap during the first four minutes of the second half.
It was a far cry from the first encounter where the Tigers destroyed Jay 57-19 in the opening round of the Bank of Brewton Christmas Tournament back in December. The Royals (10-10) were without the services of their top two scorers, Greg Nelson and Brandt Hendricks, in that game. Jay got 29 points from that duo Tuesday, which included 20 from Nelson.
While the team the Royals fielded Tuesday was not the same one T.R. Miller faced the first time around, the same could be said of the Tigers, who were without the services of senior starter Kelly Stallworth.
The teams jockeyed for position in the first half. While there were only three lead changes, there were six ties.
Jay broke one of those deadlocks late in the first quarter when three buckets by Robert Brabham snapped a 6-6 tie and sent the Royals to a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Terrelle Brooks gave the Tigers the lead twice in the second quarter. The first came on a three-pointer in the first minute of the period and put T.R. Miller up 13-12. The other came with just over a minute left in the half when his jumper put the Tigers up 20-18.
Jay came back with a three-pointer by Nelson and a bucket by Brabham in the final minute of the half to take a 23-22 lead.
It did not take long for that lead to grow in the second half. A bucket by Nelson, three-pointers by Jack Randolph and Nelson, a layup by Brabham and a three-point play by Nelson were part of a 13-2 run by the Royals that put Jay up 36-24.
Wade Jackson brought the Tigers back, as he had nine of his game-high 24 points over the final four minutes of the period that narrowed Jay's lead to 42-39.
T.R. Miller tied the game at 42-42 on a three-pointer by Terry Hetherington in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and took the lead seconds later when a steal by Hetherington led to a fastbreak layup by Andrews.
Jackson capped off what turned out to be a 12-0 run that began late in the third quarter with a steal and layup followed by a free throw that suddenly had the Tigers up 48-42.
T.R. Miller struggled at the free throw line for the first three quarters where it hit just five of 12 attempts, but it suddenly found its stroke down the stretch where it connected on 13 of 15 attempts. That included a perfect six-for-six from the line in the fourth quarter by Andrews, who was perfect on eight attempts for the game.
T.R. Miller's junior varsity dropped its third straight decision, as it lost to Jay 43-33. The Tigers led 23-16 at halftime before they were outscored 27-10 in the second half.
Alaric Watson led T.R. Miller with 10 points, while Cortez Banks added nine.
At Jay
T.R. Miller 8 14 17 24 - 63
Jay 12 11 19 13 - 55
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Jackson 10-0-4-24; Andrews 5-1-8-21; Brooks 2-2-3-13; Curry 1-0-0-2; Walker 0-0-2-2; Fountain 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 18-3-18-63)
JAY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Nelson 6-2-2-20; Brabham 5-0-
2-12; Hendricks 2-1-2-9; Castleberry 2-1-0-7; Lowery 2-0-0-4; Randolph 0-1-0-3 (Totals: 17-5-6-55)
Junior varsity
T.R. Miller 11 12 6 4 - 33
Jay 3 13 18 9 - 43
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Watson 4-0-2-10; Banks 3-0-3-9; M. Lane 1-0-2-4; Redfern 2-0-0-4; Payne 1-0-0-2; T. Lane 1-0-0-2; Powell 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 13-0-7-33)
JAY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Barlow 6-1-2-17; Boutwell 0-3-1-10; Brabham 2-0-4-8; Lowery 2-0-0-4; Walker 1-0-0-2; Fischer 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 12-4-7-43)