COVINGTON, Ga. — Despite keeping it close early, the Alcovy Tigers fell 84-71 Tuesday night to No. 6 Lakeside-Evans in a very heated Region 3-AAAAAA contest.

Even in the defeat, another excellent performance was turned in from Alcovy senior point guard Jaylen Williams. With his impressive athleticism and ability to score at will, Williams dropped 21 points including a couple of huge dunks. 

Coach Mack Hardwick’s squad matched Lakeside’s intensity from the beginning, controlling the game’s pace and locking in defensively through the first quarter which allowed things to be knotted at 11-11 going into the second quarter. 

Through the second Alcovy answered every basket with one of their own, although Lakeside senior Kalen Williams was a forced to be reckoned with. He poured in 15 of his game-high 37 points in the game’s second quarter. But despite that, Alcovy was only down 36-34 at the break. 

The third quarter was where the Tigers began to struggle. Lakeside engineered a 9-2 run through the first four minutes of the quarter and could only muster 10 points of their own in the period. Lakeside capitalized off of Alcovy’s scoring woes and took a 15-point lead to go into the final minutes of game. 

Alcovy caught its second wind in the fourth however, and rallied together to attempt at a comeback before clutch shots and free throws down the stretch sealed the deal for the Tigers in a game that was fairly chippy throughout. 

Referees handed out four technical fouls while Lakeside shot 12 free throws in the final two minutes of the game. 

While the Tigers didn’t win, Alcovy’s strong showing is another example of the fact that the Tigers can compete with anyone in their region when the talent comes together.

They’ll have another shot at getting in the region win column Friday night when Grovetown comes to town for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.  

 Lady Tigers can't finish off Lakeside-Evans

COVINGTON, Ga. — The Alcovy Lady Tigers kept it close, but they were unable to seal the deal Tuesday night in a 43-38 loss to Region 3-AAAAAA opponent, Lakeside-Evans. 

The setback extended Alcovy’s losing streak to four games while keeping them winless in region play. 

Head coach Justin Hunter says execution is their problem.  

“We are not executing for the entire game,” Hunter said. “Once we can do that you will see the results that are satisfactory.” 

As the first quarter started both teams were off to a slow start, but it was Alcovy that broke the ice scoring the first points. They held a two-point lead ending the first quarter in an 8-6 ball game. 

The second quarter was where the execution problems started to affect them. They let Lakeside get off to a hot start, including going on a 12-3 run to end the quarter. By doing so, it put Alcovy behind 19-15 going into halftime. 

The scoring drought continued in the third quarter, as Alcovy was only able to dish out seven points in the period, including a scoreless drought that capped off the last few minutes of the quarter. 

Down 35-22 at the start of the final frame, Alcovy began to catch fire a bit, scoring seven points in the first three minutes of play. What seemed to be a comeback dream was swindled with fouls. Lakeside was able to hit 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Liana Poole and Anyalia Lundy both paced the Tigers with 10 points apiece, while Danni Durham chipped in nine. 

Alcovy (5-10, 0-3)  will be looking to break its losing streak at 6 p.m. Friday when it hosts Grovetown (11-5, 3-0).