DEMOPOLIS &8212; As the Demopolis High School varsity team heads to Livingston High School for their game today, the group&8217;s performances from this weekend will likely be on the forefront of the Tiger psyche.

In a regional home game on Friday against Wilcox Central High School and a road game on Saturday against Keith High School, the Tigers found themselves in a familiar situation for the season &8212; battling a team that had cut it to a close game late. In not so familiar fashion, though, the Blue and White stopped up the wound and held on for wins.

Bell attributes both wins to his group&8217;s recently acquired ability to clamp down on defense when they need it &8212; something that has lead to wins in four of the last five games and lead to six straight losses when it was missing earlier in the season.

For example, the Tigers entered overtime against Wilcox Central tied 48-48 after letting the Jaguars fight back into the game. In the additional four-minute overtime period, the Jaguars didn&8217;t score at all as the Tigers went on to win 54-48.

Similarly, the Tigers played it close with the Keith High School Bears, who found themselves back in the game late in the fourth after trailing the Tigers for most of the second half. Tied at 46-all with 1:24 left, the Casey Cantey missed consecutive free throws before draining a second set after a Bears&8217; deflection gave the Tigers the ball back. A Keith desperation shot failed and the Tigers won 48-46.

Cantey was the only player on either team in double figures, with 18, in the Tigers&8217; match up with the Jaguars. Fred Irby joined him in double figures in the Keith game, both had 12.

Today the Tigers look to expand their streak on the road against a rival. For Bell, the game is big.