The Straughn Lady Tigers got a big win versus the Lady Bobcats of Opp in their first game in the Red Level Christmas tournament Thursday afternoon, winning by a score of 64-49.

Straughn used sharp passes and good ball movement in the first half to open up an early lead.

Midway through the second quarter, Straughn’s Brittany Driver ripped off six straight points coming on easy layups under the basket.a

Straughn held a 39-20 lead at halftime, but Opp’s Quanisha Stoudemire wouldn’t let her team go down without a fight.

Stoudemire contributed the first nine points of Opp’s 11-0 run to open the second half, and before the Lady Tigers could blink, their lead was cut to 39-31.

After the big scoring spurt by Opp, the girls from Straughn seemed to settle down and went on a 10-2 run to close out the third quarter of play, stretching their lead to 52-36.

The fourth quarter was a defensive stalemate, which aided the Lady Tigers in protecting their big lead.

Straughn played a fiery brand of defense to stifle any comeback that the Lady Bobcats had in mind, and wound up winning pretty handily, 64-49.

With the loss, the highest the Opp girls can finish is fifth.

They will play at noon today in the consolation bracket, and Straughn advances to the winners’ bracket, playing at 3 p.m.