Basketball: Lady Tigers seek momentum following consecutive wins; boys ...

The Commerce High School girls’ basketball team finally got the “monkey off of its back” last week, when it earned its first two wins of the season.

The Lady Tigers squeezed out two very narrow victories against Oglethorpe County and Tallulah Falls.

Last Tuesday, the Tigers hosted Oglethorpe and came away with a 38-35 win. After skating out to an early lead, the Tigers held a thin lead for the entirety of the game.

“Hannah Davis had a really good offensive game,” said Tiger head coach Rex Gregg. “Everyone just played pretty good and we won a close game. We were in dire need of a win to build up some confidence.”

Davis led the scoring effort with 14 points. Gregg also praised Lily Mather’s defensive play. Mather had 17 rebounds on the night.

Riding the momentum of their first win, the Tigers traveled to Tallulah Falls last Saturday to win a nail-biter in the closing seconds of the game.

Tallulah was up 27-20 at the half, but the Lady Tigers stepped up on defense in the third and fourth quarters, allowing them to pull within two points as time ticked away.

With three seconds left in regulation, Bridgett Barnett hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal the 39-38 victory for the Tigers.

“We were behind most of the whole night,” said Gregg. “We just kept fighting back and found a way to win.”

Gregg praised the play of McClaine Martin, who led the Tiger scoring effort with 10 points. Martin also pulled down eight rebounds.
Gregg also noted the performance of freshman Libbi Lance.

“She came through and had seven points, four assists, and three steals,” he said. “She played really well for us coming off the bench.”

The Tigers will travel to Franklin County on Thursday, Dec. 20, to take on the Lions, before a long break for the holiday season.

“All the girls are contributing pretty well,” said Gregg. “I think these two wins will definitely help our confidence moving forward.”

BOYS

The Commerce High School boys’ basketball team improved its record to 4-4 after commanding wins last week against Oglethorpe County and Tallulah Falls.

The Tigers hosted Oglethorpe County on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Commerce quickly took an early lead and ran away with it, ousting the Patriots 61-31.

Last Friday, the Tigers traveled to Tallulah Falls where they thrashed the Indians 79-20.

Commerce will travel to Franklin County on Thursday, Dec. 20, to take on the Lions before taking a break for the holiday season.

The Tigers will return to play when they host Towns County on Jan. 4.