Earning your sixth win in 22 games may not seem like a good season to some, but for the T.R. Miller varsity Tigers six wins is a lot.
After a winless season last year, the Tigers surpassed their win total from the past two seasons Tuesday night at Bayside as they defeated the Excel Panthers 53-49 in the first round of the class 3A area 1 tournament.
The win improved T.R. Miller to 6-15 overall and put in them in the semifinals Friday night against Bayside Academy.
With a win Friday night, the Tigers will play the winner of Clarke County and Washington County Monday at 7 p.m. With a loss Friday, the Tigers would end their season.
“The boys were able to pull the game out tonight,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Ron Jackson said. “We came out really clicking and came out hot and hit a few 3s and then we developed a little confidence as we went on. We said we were going to win and we went out and won.”
The Tigers started out the game trailing 12-9 after the first quarter. In the second, the Tigers doubled up the Panthers 16-8 to claim a 25-20 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, T.R. Miller increased their lead by one point with a 16-15 advantage to claim a 41-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Excel outscored T.R. Miller 14-12 but the Tigers hung on for the win by four.
Kameron Winn led the Tigers with 18 points and Mark Bryant followed with 13. Darrion Salter had 10 points and Antonio Payne chipped in six. Caleb Hubbard and Marc Edge both had three points for the Tigers in the win.