By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
While for the most part it has been Joy McCorvey and Jasmine Sanford who have carried the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers this season, the play by senior Keonshaye Lane the last couple of games will also make opposing teams start to take notice.
Lane followed up a 28-point, five-three-pointer night against Flomaton Tuesday with 20 more points and four more treys Friday to spark T.R. Miller to a 69-39 win over the visiting Monroe County Lady Tigers.
Monroe County, which lost to T.R. Miller 64-14 earlier in the season, was able to stay within striking range most of the first half.
The Lady Tigers (24-1) had only a modest 31-22 lead with three minutes left in the half when they began a torrid 26-7 tear over the next nine minutes that swelled the cushion to 57-29.
Fittingly, it was Lane who was a big spark in that surge with three three-pointers.
Sanford matched Lane's 20 points to lead T.R. Miller, while McCorvey added 16.
The Lady Tigers, who hosted Northview (Fla.) Saturday in their regular season finale, open up the Class 3A Area 1 Tournament on their home court Thursday with a 7 p.m. battle against W.S. Neal.
At T.R. Miller
Monroe County 13 11 5 10 – 39
T.R. Miller 21 18 18 12 – 69
MONROE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) W. Williams 6-1-0-15; Davis 1-2-0-8; Jes. Williams 1-1-0-5; Sigler 2-0-0-4; Farr 0-1-0-3; Black 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 10-5-2-39)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Lane 4-4-0-20; Sanford 9-0-2-20; McCorvey 8-0-2-18; Peterson 0-2-0-6; Brown 1-0-0-2; Scott 1-0-0-2; Reed 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 23-6-5-69)
Tuesday's game
As the lone senior on the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers, Keonshaye Lane has been counted on for her leadership this season.
There was nothing wrong with Lane's leadership Tuesday, as she fired in a career high 28 points to pace the Lady Tigers to a 66-44 win over the visiting Flomaton Lady Hurricanes. It was T.R. Miller's third win of the season of its county rival.
Lane was deadly all night, especially from the perimeter where she drained five three-pointers.
While Lane had her first trey, another field goal and a couple of free throws in the opening quarter, it was actually Joy McCorvey who triggered a quick start for T.R. Miller.
McCorvey registered three hoops from inside the lane and was a perfect four-for-four from the free throw line in a first quarter where the Lady Tigers raced out to a 19-7 lead.
The closest Flomaton (19-9) would get the rest of the way came halfway through the second quarter when a basket by Ashley Conrad brought the Lady Hurricanes within 27-16.
Three-pointers by Lane and Keya Peterson quickly put the lead up to 17 points and it reached 18 when Brittany Watson scored at the halftime buzzer to make it 39-21.
Lane drained three more three-pointers in the third quarter and Jasmine Sanford added four other field goals, as T.R. Miller swelled its cushion to 64-30 by the end of the period.
The game did have a disturbing stretch for the Lady Tigers. Once the starting unit was pulled at the end of the third quarter, Flomaton reeled off 13 unanswered points in less than four minutes and T.R. Miller scored just two points in the fourth quarter.
At T.R. Miller
Flomaton 7 14 9 14 – 44
T.R. Miller 19 20 25 2 – 66
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Lisenby 2-3-1-14; Williams 4-0-2-10; Lassiter 3-0-1-7; Cayson 2-1-0-7; Henderson 2-0-0-4; Conrad 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 14-4-4-44)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Lane 5-5-3-28; McCorvey 5-0-7-17; Sanford 7-0-2-16; Peterson 0-1-0-3; Watson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 18-6-12-66)