In front of a packed crowd in the Demopolis High School Gymnasium, the DHS Lady Tigers used clutch free throws down the stretch to claim a 49-43 victory over the visiting Sumter Central High School Lady Jaguars on Jan. 13.
The Lady Tigers remain undefeated with the victory and now sport a 14-0 record and a 3-0 record in 5A Area 6 competition while SCHS falls to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in area play.
Both teams struggled out of the gate offensively failing to establish a rhythm on the way to a 7-7 first quarter score.
“We were struggling from the outside shooting the ball,” said Head Coach Tony Pittman.
Some of those struggles were relieved in the second quarter as the Lady Tigers outscored SCHS 17-6 to take a 24-13 lead to the half.
After the break, both teams would come out with renewed focus and score 12 points each to bring the total to 32-25 in favor of the Lady Tigers.
In the final quarter, the Lady Jaguars would get as close to within four points after some clutch three-pointers. However, free throws by Sha’Deitra White and Darnesha Harris in the final minutes were enough to stave off the comeback attempt of SCHS and allow the Lady Tigers to secure the 49-43 victory.
Pittman said, “It gave us an opportunity to see what we have to work on.”
Ivery Moore led all scorers with 15 points in the game and White scored 12 to round out the leading scorers for DHS.
Treionna Hudson scored 13 and Keona May added 12 points to lead SCHS in scoring.
The Lady Tigers will hit the hardwood Saturday night for a non-area contest against Wilcox Central in Camden.