COVINGTON, Ga. — In its eighth region contest of the season, Alcovy split with the Morrow Mustangs at home on Friday.
The Lady Tigers continued their winning ways with a 55-47 win over the Lady Mustangs. Alcovy’s boys team fell short in the final minute to Morrow in a 66-65 defeat.
Lady Tigers extend streak vs Morrow
A second half surge propelled the Lady Tigers past Region 3-AAAAAA rival Morrow on Friday in a 55-47 win, extending their win streak to seven in a row.
After a strong first two minutes that snagged an early lead for Alcovy, a Morrow three pointer sparked a strong run for the Mustangs.
For the first quarter, the Lady Tigers lived in their own paint.
Alcovy guarded an aggressive attack from Morrow's offense and failed to score a point of its own for the last half of the period.
However, Alcovy found offensive momentum in the second quarter with back-to-back threes and an and-one shot by Kendall Banks.
A free throw by Minah Little put the home team on top late in the half, but a last second three-ball put the Mustangs in front 29-28 as the teams walked into the locker room.
The Alcovy defense capitalized on Morrow miscues in the third quarter, holding it to just seven points and digging a hole for the Mustangs in the final quarter.
Kendall Banks gave Alcovy an 11-point lead with a deep three pointer. Her 20 point game helped the Lady Tigers cement yet another victory
“This is history,” said Lady Tigers’ coach Justin Hunter. “We haven't had this in almost close to 10 years. Seven wins for the girls.”
Hunter said a large part of their success is the ability for younger players to step up and lead in the absence of seniors.
The Lady Tigers (11-6, 5-3) will look to add more history to the season when they host another region opponent in Jonesboro on Tuesday, Jan. 23. They will then seek to take control of second place in the region when they face Rockdale County on the road on Friday, Jan. 26.
Tigers fall in heartbreaking fashion
A last second jump shot by Tim Walls fell just off the mark as Alcovy fell short to Morrow in a Region 3-AAAAAA matchup on Friday.
After being down by 15 points in the second half, Alcovy took the lead with just two minutes left in the game on a deep three by Andre Jernigan.
Another layup by Jernigan put his team up by three, but a foul and a goaltending call tied the game once again.
A Mustang three pointer put Morrow up with a minute left in a fight to the finish.
With 10 seconds left in the game. A basket by Jaqari Smith rolled out of the hoop, only to be put back by Tim Walls, giving Alcovy a 55-54 lead and leaving the defense to close out the game.
However, a foul on a Morrow shooter gave him two shots to tie and take the lead. Both fell in front of a raucous crowd with five seconds left to make it 66-65 Morrow.
In a last second attempt to pull off the comeback, Wall’s shot fell just off the rim as time expired, giving Alcovy their seventh loss on the season.
“We’re doing a good job fighting, but we gotta be ready to go from the jump,” said head coach Taylor Jackson. “These small things throughout the course of the game, they build up. Then we flip a coin at the end.”
The loss came not long after the Tigers’ fell to Lovejoy, another game in which Alcovy came back from a large deficit only to be defeated on the final possession.
After exchanging leads throughout the first quarter, Morrow took advantage of a missed Alcovy shot to go up after eight minutes.
Their offensive hot-streak carried into the second quarter, where a dominant run gave them a 10-point lead. A layup at the buzzer by Nick Durham cut the Mustangs’ lead and made the score 30-22 at the half.
The Tigers opened the second half with a five-point run and came back to within one score, but a trifecta of three pointers put Alcovy right back where it started.
Morrow was seemingly not content with the 10-point lead, as it went on another run to take a 15-point advantage.
However, the Tigers were persistent. They pulled to within six points to open the fourth quarter, their smallest deficit since the start of the game.
The Tigers (12-8, 2-7) remained at home to take on Jonesboro on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Its stretch of region battles will continue as they head to Rockdale County on Friday, Jan. 26.
