By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
They survived scoring only 11 points in the first half, but the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers could not do the same in the second half of Saturday's 33-22 loss to the top-seeded and host Andalusia Lady Bulldogs in the Class 4A Area 2 Tournament championship game.
Andalusia's win completed a three-game season sweep of the Lady Tigers. The Lady Bulldogs (16-9) also won 39-33 and 45-42 in double-overtime in two regular season meetings.
T.R. Miller went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal at the start of the game and 15 seconds shy of the final 12 minutes without another field goal to end the game. The Lady Tigers (12-9) hit just four of 30 shots for the game, which included just one of 16 second half attempts.
Shooting woes were just part of T.R. Miller's woes. The Lady Tigers also committed 26 turnovers.
The other key item came on the boards. Andalusia had a modest 23-19 edge on the glass, but 12 of those 23 rebounds were offensive rebounds.
T.R. Miller did not score until the final minute of the first quarter when Nakiya Smith hit a free throw, but Andalusia was not much better.
True, the Lady Bulldogs built a 7-0 lead during that stretch on a pair of buckets and free throw by Anjelica White and a field goal by Blanche Alverson.
After the quick start, Andalusia went more than 10 minutes without a point. The Lady Bulldogs hit just three of 11 first quarter shots and four of 21 in the first half.
The Lady Tigers made their first field goal with 6:14 left in the first half when Kesha Peterson scored on a three-point play to make it 7-4. More than three minutes passed before either team scored again when Desiree Gibbs came off the bench and scored a fastbreak layup that brought the Lady Tigers within 7-6.
Jereesa Curry's three-point play wit 58 seconds left in the first half ended Andalusia's scoring doubt and upped its lead to 10-6.
T.R. Miller responded with three scores in the final 50 seconds of the half, one of which was a baseline jumper by Smith just before the first half buzzer sounded that gave the Lady Tigers an 11-10 lead.
The advantage did not last long once play resumed and T.R. Miller never led again.
Jamsine Peacock's offensive rebound bucket in the opening moments of the second half put Andalusia back in front. The next two minutes were critical for T.R. Miller, as Alverson hit two free throws, scored off an offensive rebound and turned a steal into two more points that pushed the lead up to 18-11.
The lone bucket for the Lady Tigers in the second half came with 3:45 left in the quarter when Donya Grice scored off an offensive rebound that made it 18-13. T.R. Miller's final nine points came on free throws.
Andalusia made it an eight-point lead of 22-14 over the next minute on buckets by Peacock and Curry and took that eight-point lead into the final quarter.
The closest T.R. Miller came the rest of the way came 30 seconds into the fourth quarter when two free throws by Keydra Shedrone narrowed Andalusia's lead to 24-18.
A bucket by Chantavia Lawrence and three free throws by Curry put the lead into double digits for the first time at 29-19 with 4:56 left. T.R. Miller never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
T.R. Miller's penalty for losing is a trip to Thomasville Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest in the sub-regional round. Thomasville (19-3) upended Escambia County 48-47 to win the Area 1 championship.
At Andalusia
T.R. Miller 1 10 5 6 - 22
Andalusia 7 3 14 9 - 33
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Smith 1-0-6-8; Peterson 1-0-3-5; Shedrone 0-0-2-2; Gibbs 1-0-0-2; Grice 1-0-0-2; Green 0-0-2-2; McCorvey 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 4-0-14-22)
ANDALUSIA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Alverson 4-0-2-10; Curry 2-0-4-8; White 3-0-1-7; Peacock 2-0-0-4; Carlson 1-0-0-2; Lawrence 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 13-0-7-33)