Lady Tigers hang on|TRM heads to region finals
Published 8:12 pm Monday, February 22, 2010
By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
Two T.R. Miller Lady Tigers posted double-doubles Thursday night in Mobile at the Class 3A South Regional event. T.R. Miller was able to hang on for a 44-38 win over the Slocomb Red Tops.
The win for the No. 8 Lady Tigers improved them to 25-2 with their 17th straight win and puts them in the championship game of the regional against Abbeville (24-6) today at 3:40 p.m. back in Mobile.
With a win today, the Lady Tigers will advance to the Final Four in Birmingham and will play Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Thursday marked the second straight match up between the two teams in the regionals.
T.R. Miller won last season over the Red Tops 44-22.
Thursday, the Lady Tigers led 13-9 after the first quarter after a 10-0 run that saw them turn a 6-3 deficit early in the game into a 13-6 lead with 1:10 left to play.
T.R. Miller outscored Slocomb 10-6 in the second quarter to lead 23-15 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers led 27-21 before using a 6-0 run to lead 33-21 and 33-23 heading into the fourth quarter after a 10-8 advantage in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers seemed poised to put the game away as they built a 15-point lead twice in the quarter, with the latest being a 42-27 lead with 5:35 left to play in the game.
From that point on, the Lady Tigers were outscored 11-2 and had their lead cut to 44-38 with 1:14 left to play, but was able to hang on for the win after being outscored 15-11 in the quarter.
Slocomb coach Linda McCray said the Lady Tigers press bothered her team early in the game
Nakiya Smith led T.R. Miller with 18 points and finished off her night with 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Courtney Jones led with 12 rebounds and was the other Lady Tiger with a double-double as he added 10 points.
Keydra Shedrone finished with nine points and Desiree Gibbs added three points.
Leah Brundidge and Shay Kiser both had two points in the win.
T.R. Miller shot 49 percent from the field in the game and was 0-for-7 from the 3-point area.
Slocomb shot 33 percent and was 0-for-6 from the 3-point area.
The Lady Tigers were 6-of-14 from the free throw area and Slocomb was 8-for-15.
Smith led with two assists and Jones added three blocks in the win for the Lady Tigers.
Brunidge led the Lady Tigers of Brewton with four steals.
Cassidy Littlefield led the Red Tops of Slocomb with 11 points in the loss.