By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
The biggest adjustment the T.R. Miller Tigers made in the second half was not in strategy, but their execution.
Up by only six over a pesky Flomaton team that entered Friday's game at Brewton with a 1-16 record, the Tigers began the second half with a 25-5 run to blow away the Hurricanes 46-25.
The 25 points allowed was a season best by the Tigers defense, one fewer than the 26 it allowed to W.S. Neal at the Escambia County Tournament.
Although the Tigers (8-8) scored just four points in the first seven minutes of the game, they found themselves down by just a 5-4 margin.
Buckets by Laine Lucas and Jordan Knight in the final minute of the quarter put T.R. Miller up 8-7 and the Tigers would not trail again.
They did, however, face a 9-9 deadlock early in the second quarter before two hoops and a free throw by Knight and a three-pointer and another field goal by Brandon Andrews sparked T.R. Miller on a 12-4 run and a 21-13 lead in the final minute of the first half.
Up 21-15 at halftime, T.R. Miller scored the first 13 points of the second half to put the game away. Wade Jackson had two buckets and a three-pointer, while Terrelle Brooks also had two buckets to highlight that run.
As good as the defense was by the T.R. Miller varsity, the Tigers junior varsity was even stingier in its 54-14 win over the Hurricanes.
Terry Hetherington's 15 points led T.R. Miller (6-1), while Teras Fountain contributed 10.
T.R. Miller, which played at Hillcrest-Evergreen Saturday, returns to Class 3A Area 1 action Tuesday when it hosts W.S. Neal.
At T.R. Miller
Flomaton 7 8 5 5 – 25
T.R. Miller 8 13 15 10 – 46
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Walton 2-1-1-8; Banks 4-0-0-8; Simpson 1-1-0-5; Hawsey 0-0-2-2; Tuckers 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 8-2-3-25)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Brooks 5-0-1-11; Jo. Knight 5-0-1-11; Jackson 2-1-0-7; Lucas 2-0-2-6; Andrews 1-1-0-5; Stallworth 1-0-2-4; Curry 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 17-2-6-46)
Junior varsity
Flomaton 8 4 2 0 – 14
T.R. Miller 14 9 17 14 – 54
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) J. Lambeth 1-1-3-8; Chavers 2-0-0-4; Berry 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 4-1-3-14)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Hetherington 7-0-1-15; Fountain 4-0-2-10; D. Payne 3-0-0-6; Smith 3-0-0-6; Arauz 1-1-0-5; Watson 2-0-0-4; Powell 1-0-0-2; Smith 1-0-0-2; Lane 1-0-0-2; Bradley 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 24-1-3-54)
Tigers drop Area opener
T.R. Miller and Clarke County have shared the last two Class 3A Area 1 regular season titles, but the Bulldogs got an early leg up in this season's race with a 65-49 victory at Grove Hill Tuesday.
T.R. Miller never led in the game and fell behind 16-6 in the opening quarter.
The Tigers rallied in the second quarter behind the hot shooting of guard Wade Jackson, who scored 12 of his team high 14 points in that frame. Jackson had a pair of three-pointers and three additional field goals that helped trim the gap to 24-22.
The Tigers moved even closer in the final minute of the first half when Jeremy Curry's offensive rebound trimmed Clarke County's lead to 25-24.
T.R. Miller still found itself down a point midway through the third quarter after Laine Lucas's shot from the corner of the free throw line made it 33-32.
Five offensive rebounds in the quarter and three-pointers by Ben Burroughs and Dewayne Owens sent Clarke County on a 12-2 run to end the frame with a 45-34 lead. T.R. Miller never got within 10 points the rest of the way.
In addition to Clarke County's dominance on the offensive glass, fouls and free throws also took their toll on the Tigers. T.R. Miller was whistled for 25 fouls as compared to just 12 for the Bulldogs. Clarke County attempted 33 free throws as compared to only 10 for T.R. Miller and outscored the Tigers 19-3 in that department.
T.R. Miller's junior varsity responded from an 18-day layoff with a 55-52 win over Clarke County.
Terry Hetherington knocked in 17 points to lead the Tigers, while David Payne added 15.
At Clarke County
T.R. Miller 8 16 10 15 – 49
Clarke County 16 9 20 20 – 65
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Jackson 4-2-0-14; Jo. Knight 5-0-3-13; Cunningham 3-0-0-6; Brooks 2-0-0-4; Stallworth 2-0-0-4; Lucas 1-0-0-2; Curry 1-0-0-2; Walker 1-0-0-2; Andrews 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 20-2-3-49)
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Kimbrough 8-0-1-17; J. Burroughs 5-0-6-16; B. Burroughs 1-3-4-15; Williams 2-0-3-7; Owens 1-1-1-6; Taite 0-0-4-4 (Totals: 17-4-19-65)
Junior varsity
T.R. Miller 9 11 20 15 – 55
Clarke County 14 10 6 22 – 52
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Hetherington 5-0-7-17; D. Payne 6-0-3-15; Fountain 4-0-1-9; Watson 4-0-0-8; Smith 1-1-0-5; Redfern 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 20-1-12-55)
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McCaskey 6-0-5-17; Horn 2-4-0-16; Anderson 3-0-2-8; Guy 3-0-0-6; B. Frazier 0-1-0-3; T. Frazier 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 14-5-9-52)