After dropping the first game of the Opelika Christmas Tournament to 1A Edward Bell, the Lady Tigers of Greenville High School pulled together and knocked off Stanhope-Elmore. With the victory over the Lady Mustangs, GHS found themselves playing for third place against B.C. Rain High School from Mobile.

Greenville ended the Stanhope-Elmore game the day before with a run, that run continued throughout the game against the B.C. Rain Raiders.

The Lady Tigers jumped out in front to a 23-20 lead and then stayed in front at the half, 37-35.

While the lead was narrow for a majority of the game, the Lady Tigers managed to hold the Lady Raiders at bay, securing a third quarter lead of 50-42 and then a final tally of 60-53.

"We played great two days in a row and our shooting that we have been working on all season improved for us and we came to play," said Ronald Bogan, coach of the Greenville High School Lady Tigers.

"Our shooting is getting better and our conditioning is coming around. We actually played for three days and we looked fresh. During the fourth quarter it was a big improvement. We are headed in the right direction. I think the changes that we made right before Christmas break are making a difference. The girls right now are coming together and being excited about playing. I think that's going to help us out down the line as far as our play is concerned."

Kendra Mtichell led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 14 points. She was followed by Jessica Powell with 13 points, Katoria MacDonald with 12 points and then Mikki Harris with 10 points in the game.

But, the Lady Tigers will have face their toughest tests this season. On Friday they will travel to Troy for a meeting with the Charles Henderson Lady Trojans. After that, the Lady Tigers will face the Eufaula Lady Tigers.

These two teams have history.

"We've got Eufaula and Troy coming up this weekend," said Bogan. "Those are two big area games and that's going to tell us where we are as far as the area is concerned. Eufaula beat us in sub-region and lost two of their biggest shooters to graduation. They are 9-5 but that doesn't say much. They have played pretty much the same competition that we have played. We both have faced some pretty stiff competition. "

"I think that's going to be our truest test in the region in Eufaula. Troy is young this year. But it seems like they are young every year. Playing in Troy is going to be another test for us as it is our first area game on the road. And if you know anything about troy, you can't win games in Troy when you are the visiting team. I think as far as overall performance, these are going to be our two biggest tests and we are headed in the right direction and if we can play against them the way that we have played the last two games, I am confident that we will do ok."

So far, the Lady Tigers are statistically led by Mitchell.

She leads the team in assists with 47, steals with 53 and is the points' leader with 184.

Mitchell averages 12.3 points per game.

MacDonald may not have the points that Mitchell has, but she has the better scoring average with 12.5 points per game.

Powell is currently second in assists with 25 and is narrowly ahead of Harris with 24.

Harris leads the team in rebounding with 89 rebounds.

The Tigers will travel to Troy on Friday and will host Eufaula on Saturday.