COVINGTON, Ga. — It was a tale of two different games during Alcovy High School’s home opener against Carver on Tuesday.

The kickoff game between the undefeated Lady Tigers and the Lady Panthers proved to be another successful outing for Justin Hunter’s squad. The Lady Tigers picked up a statement victory with a final 53-17, improving to 3-0 for the first time since 2022.

On the opposite end, the boys team was unable to secure their first victory despite a vintage 19-point performance by Tigers veteran Jakori Pinelle. Ultimately, it was Adonis Wimbush’s 31-point performance that propelled the Panthers over Darrell Johnson’s Tigers in a 62-57 final.

Lady Tigers deliver 53-17 statement victory

Last season, the Lady Tigers fell to the Lady Panthers in a 46-40 result. But from the opening minutes of the contest, it was clear that this would not be a repeat.

The duo of Addison Way and Minah Little led the way in the first quarter, adding eight and five points, respectively. The Lady Tigers also played stellar defense, forcing double-digit turnovers.

That combination led to a shutout in the first quarter at 15-0 in favor of Alcovy.

Way, Chasity Maddox and Alyric Buckmon added eight more points before Carver scored its first bucket with 4:34 to go. 

The Lady Panthers showed some signs of life after the first bucket, adding seven more points. But that was outmatched by the Lady Tigers, as Little, Amari Baker and Simaria Wilburn rallied for an additional 10 points, to end the first half at 35-9 in favor of Alcovy.

The Lady Tigers continued to bring the pressure after the intermission, with a quick succession of buckets from Way and Baker. Another turnover heavy quarter gave the Lady Tigers more scoring opportunities, allowing them to go up 48-13 to close out the third quarter.

With the game out of reach, both teams emptied their benches for what proved to be a low-scoring fourth quarter. Regardless, it was enough for the Lady Tigers to score a comfortable victory of 53-17 over the Lady Panthers.

Off to a red-hot start, Hunter says that the success generated by his squad is from willing to trust the experimental process.

“When you have things that you’re trying to accomplish, we can’t worry about things that we’re not able to do well,” Hunter said. “We can only focus on things we can do to help us get past those things that we don’t do well. And sometimes that’s just attempting.

“You’ll see in the box that some of these girls that normally don’t get contributions. But that comes from trying from something you may not usually do. The only way to change that is to try. So tonight was about all trying and that’s what they did.”

With no central go-to player, the Tigers have had to rely on a full team effort. Hunter says that this has been a strong point so far in the first few contests.

“Right now we’re playing as a team,” Hunter said. “We’re getting contributions as a team. So let’s just see how far we can go from here.”

Tigers fall just short of first win of season in 62-57 loss

Both squads began the matchup with intensity, trading scoreless possessions early.

After a 90-second standoff, it was Pinelle who struck first. But that would soon be outdone by Wimbush, who added 12 points for the Panthers in just four minutes.

With 3:00 remaining in the first quarter, the Tigers found a burst of momentum. A run that was culminated by a mid-range jumpshot from Mekhi Hamlin allowed the Tigers to take a 16-14 lead to close out the first quarter.

The second quarter proved to be equally as back-and-forth, but with more scoring variety.

The Tigers saw contributions from sophomore Kristopher Able, Kortize Foust, Antoine Graves and Immanuel Humphrey. 

On the defensive end, the Tigers held Wimbush to no converted field goals. But trips to the free-throw line allowed the Panthers to score half of its 18 points in the second quarter.

After the dust settled, the Tigers and the Panthers went to the locker room tied at 32 a piece.

With the score deadlocked, it was on either team to find a way to take control. 

Initially, it seemed the Tigers would be that team, as a thunderous layup by Hamlin began the second half. But shortly after play, Hamlin was called for a controversial technical foul after the referees claimed he intentionally bumped into a Carver player.

This inadvertently set up the Panthers on another scoring run led by Wimbush and Jacory Pickett which led to a 48-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The margin between Alcovy and Carver remained around the 10 point range for much of the fourth quarter, which quieted the crowd.

But that would soon change.

Three consecutive unanswered scoring plays from Antoine Graves cut the deficit tremendously with 3:00 to go. A go-ahead bucket by Pinelle led to the Tigers only trailing by one point with 90 seconds left in the game.

After a failed offensive possession, Hamlin attempted to bring the ball down the court to give the Tigers the go-ahead lead. However, an excessive timeout was called despite the Tigers having none. 

This led to a costly technical foul that would ultimately dash the hopes of the Tigers securing a 62-57 victory.

“We got to communicate better, got to get back and hustle,” Johnson said. “And play as a team and as a unit.”

At 0-3, it has not been the start that Johnson would have hoped for. But Johnson says he knows what must change to turn things around.

“We got to finish,” Johnson said. “We have to play four quarters… We’ve got to keep on working; working on situationals and just execution all around.”